Review: Ready to Die (To Die #5)

Title: Ready to Die (To Die #5)

Author: Lisa Jackson

Date Published: April 2013

ISBN: 9781420118513

 Publisher: Zebra

Pages: 432

 ★★★★✰

 Nothing

His blood quickens as he stares at the photographs. Six faces, all guilty--and detectives Regan Pescoli and Selena Alvarez are at the top of his list. One by one, he'll stalk them, then he'll squeeze the trigger, savoring the way each lifeless body crumples to the reddening snow. One down already. And then there were five. . .

Can Prepare You

Sheriff Dan Grayson lies near death after a shooting, and the police department of Grizzly Falls, Montana, is in shock. Alvarez, torn between a new relationship and her loyalty to Grayson, works with Pescoli to whittle down the list of suspects. The deeper they go, the more personal and dangerous the case becomes. Then a prominent judge's body is found and the killer sends a sinister warning to the press: "Who's Next?"

To Face A Killer

Pescoli isn't waiting to find out. Headstrong and eager for justice, she'll track the scant clues on her own if she has to. But her search leads her straight to a monster who has had her in his sights all along. And when hunter meets prey, both must be willing to kill--and ready to die. . .

Lisa. Jackson. WHEW! Man, this book ... geez!

I have read hundreds of books in tons of different genres. One of my favorites is the mystery/suspense group. But only if a few conditions are met:   

• 1. The hero/heroine MUST be flawed. I detest reading about some perfect person who lives in the perfect house with a perfect dog, the 2.5 perfect children, the perfect spouse who drives the perfect car with the perfect life. I want someone who has been down in the trenches, who has had bad stuff happen to them and they have dusted themselves back off, sworn to never make that same mistake again, only to make that same mistake again! I guess I could have said just a regular person. But what fun would that have been?
• C. I would really like it if I couldn't pick out the killer. If I can pick out the villain in the first couple chapters, I get very angry and refuse to read the book for 10-15 minutes while it's in time out and had time to think about what it's done. I'll probably finish the book ... but I will probably not read from that author again anytime soon. 
• 4. The word of the day is: twistyturney. There have to be lots of twistyturneys in the book. Mandatory. OR ELSE (dun dun DUUUUN) <-- Imagine scary music. 

Okay, if all of those conditions are met, then that makes a happy reader (me). So. The question is whether Lisa Jackson met those criteria and the answer is ABSOLUTELY!
  
It has been too long since I have picked up a Jackson book and I really regret that now. I feel like I have missed out on a great series and now after the mountain of books that I have to read is a bit smaller, I'm going to pick up the rest of the To Die series.

While there are quite a few characters, I felt like I knew where all of them were coming from. It was a bit much to keep up with at first but I quickly caught on. And maybe that would have been a non-issue if I had read the rest of the series. 

I really felt like this could be a standalone book. I didn't feel anything was lacking in the story ... there wasn't a back story that I felt like I was missing out on or anything, so that's a gigantic thumbs up. 

All in all, a great book. Definitely one I'll pick up again and of course an author that I'll stop neglecting!! 

 ** I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review **