Monday, January 30, 2017

Unpunished (Gardiner and Renner #2) by Lisa Black






Maggie Gardiner, a forensic expert who studies the dead, and Jack Renner, a homicide cop who stalks the living, form an uneasy partnership to solve a series of murders in this powerful new thriller by the bestselling author of That Darkness. It begins with the kind of bizarre death that makes headlines--literally. A copy editor at the Cleveland Herald is found hanging above the grinding wheels of the newspaper assembly line, a wide strap wrapped around his throat. Forensic investigator Maggie Gardiner has her suspicions about this apparent suicide inside the tsunami of tensions that is the news industry today--and when the evidence suggests murder, Maggie has no choice but to place her trust in the one person she doesn't trust at all . . .
Jack Renner is a killer with a conscience, a vigilante with his own code of honor. In the past, Jack has used his skills and connections as a homicide detective to take the law into his own hands, all in the name of justice. He has only one problem: Maggie knows his secret. She insists he enforce the law, not subvert it. But when more newspaper employees are slain, Jack may be the only person who can help Maggie unmask the killer-- even if Jack is still checking names off his own private murder list.



About The Author





Lisa Black spent the happiest five years of her life in a morgue. Strange, perhaps, but true. After ten years as a secretary, she went back to school to get a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Cleveland State University. In her job as a forensic scientist at the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office, she analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes.
She had her life sorted out just the way she liked it until her husband got fed up with Cleveland snow and moved them to Florida, 1400 miles away from her family and her career. Not that she’s bitter or anything. Now she works as a latent print examiner for the city of Cape Coral, Florida, police department, working mostly with fingerprints and crime scenes.
Lisa has lectured at writer’s conventions and appeared on panels. In her life as a writer she’s a member of Sisters In Crime, Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. In her life as a forensic specialist she’s a member of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists, the International Association for Identification, the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts and is certified by the American Board of Criminalistics. She has had over 741 hours of instruction in forensic topics and has testified in over 50 trials.



My Review




There are a lot of gory murders that take place in this story, which I understand is the second in the series, now I haven’t read the first, but enough information was given for me to figure things out in this one.
The police detective is a Robin Hood type who believes in justice being handled by him, especially when the courts have let him down. I can see that there will be another book, as his on going system of justice will have to come to a head.
While this story has murders in the Cleveland newspaper, and we all understand that it is a dying industry. Sad, but that is progress, and it made a good backdrop for the tale. All we needed to do was figure out who was the culprit, and while we were looking our Maggie is the forensic part of the police, she takes samples, and hope they lead to the perpetrator. Our police detective is Jack; also our vigilante cop, and we still have to solve four murders, and maybe more, dealing with the paper.
The book kept me guessing, and I almost could sympathize with Jack, but that sure wouldn’t be justice, and with someone following leads that may finally find him out, you are probably going to want to read the next book.
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Kensington, and was not required to give a positive review. 

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