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Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. Kind of interesting primary character - female homicide detective returning to the job after an almost fatal run-in with a psychotic who had targeted her to die. For me there was way too much "navel gazing''; internal dialogue examining her mental state, her fears, her home life.
And it would've been ok if it hadn't been repeated over and over and over ad nauseum. The definition of an artist is someone who knows when to stop. Dianne Emley didn't know when to stop. Dianne, you're a hard woman. You condemned me to a brutal sleepless night. Now I feel like I've got quartz sand under my eyelids. This has to be one of the best, if not the best thriller I've read.
The writing is tremendous. The characters are exceptionally well-developed, especially Nan; but the others as well. I really cared about Nan and Emily and I felt a deep sadness for her slain colleague. I'm proceeding to get the next one right now. But, I'm going to get some sleep tonight. Dianne Emley produces a taut and suspense-filled homicide case. Detective Nan Vining has returned to work after having survived a brutal attack which left her with a lengthy scar along her neck and psychological and emotional scars that have yet to heal. The reader follows Detective Vining as she struggles and refuses to be held prisoner by fear and refuses to let politics get in the way of a thorough investigation into the brutal murder of a police officer.
Well-drawn characters, good and evil and in-between, provides impetus to a well-shaped plot although few surprises with the inevitable police corruption theme. A nice read for those of us who enjoy police procedurals. A police officer working vice takes a walk on the dark side and ends up dead. Frankie Lynde had secrets and those secrets had gotten her killed. Nan Vining had an encounter with the dark side and walked away but not before flat lining for two minutes.
She'd been ambushed and stabbed in the neck. Now, her first day back at work, she finds herself going along with her superior to the site where Frankie' s body has been discovered. The next thing she knows she's smack dab in the middle of the investigation.
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She's teamed up with her former lover, Jim Kissick. As the two work the case, Nan battles her own demons, hiding her panic attacks from her colleagues while trying to reassure her daughter that she really is okay. Great cast of characters, an intriguing mystery, and a police detective who has a score to settle with her attacker who is still running free. This was a good start to the series, one I look forward to continuing. One person found this helpful. I really enjoyed this book, the first in a series. The structure and plot were easy to follow, the action was fast-paced and as a psychologist I appreciated the inner feelings of Nan, the protagonist.
The writing is tight and I liked the parallel between what happened to Vining and the terrible murder she must help solve. It's a quick read and a lot of fun. It's a pleasure having met the author on Facebook, too.
There's nothing like an appreciative author. You will buy their books and love them just for being recognized as a fan of their stories. And I was not disappointed! Diane Emely has quickly become a go to author for crime thrillers. If you're a Karin Slaughter fan, you'll love this series! I really enjoyed this book and when I Dianne Emley writes a different kind of book in a different kind of way and it's all good.
I really enjoyed this book and when I had to lay it aside to take care of other things I could hardly wait to get back into the story. I am really looking forward to reading more of her books. While some of her fellow officers think this crime may hit too close to home for Vining, she views this case as the perfect opportunity to prove to her colleagues--and more importantly to herself, that she's ready and able to get back in the game. To complicate Vining's return to work, she secretly suffers anxiety attacks whenever she enters unfamiliar houses.
Sometimes these anxiety attacks manifest themselves in the form of hearing voices from both Frankie Lynde and T. Mann-- the name Vining and her teenage daughter have given to Vining's unknown attacker "The Bad Man" who remains at large. The First Cut starts out a bit slow introducing the primary and secondary characters, establishing the crime scene and other information, all the while without any strong character developments or progress in the plot itself.
Eventually, though, the pace picks up and the book quickly transforms into a very intense police procedural for a disturbing set of crimes that left me turning the pages as fast as I could just to make sure justice was served. This book's strength is definitely in the thoroughness of the police investigation and the specific procedurals as well as in the grim and disturbing profile of the murderer and his accomplice. Revisiting the events that led up to the murder of LAPD officer Frankie Lynde and witnessing the perpetrator initiate a new crime against a new victim was both disturbing and suspenseful.
The weakness of the book, however, is that I felt Officer Nan Vining's character was short changed in the development area. Yes, we learn about her attack by T. Mann and how it still affects her, we learn about her relationship with her daughter and bit about a male colleague with whom she used to be involved and we also learn what a competent and intuitive cop she is--all of which invites the reader to empathize with and route for Vining's success.
Which happens for the most part, yet I feel like we could have and should have gotten more intimately involved with Vining's character to really know and connect with her. Since this is the first book in a series, I imagine Vining's character develops more in the subsequent stories making her character and her stories even more compelling.
I gave The First Cut three stars on goodreads for "I like it. May 10, Elusive rated it it was ok Shelves: Detective Nan Vining feels connected to Frankie mainly because she had once been a victim of a vicious shooting. As Nan and her colleagues do their best to hunt down the murderer, she is also plagued by unexplainable visions and sounds as well as lightheadedness.
Although the case certainly had the potential to be intriguing and suspenseful, the writing itself completely ruined that possibility. I found the writing style to be incredibly unappealing because it was quite dry, long-winded and directionless. The details regarding what had happened to Nan were gradually revealed but they were simply too drawn out for my liking.
Plus, there were a couple of flashbacks involving her traumatizing experience and what Frankie had experienced prior to her death but those were poorly incorporated as the transition from the present to the past was choppy. Besides that, there were way too many characters working on one case and none of them were remotely interesting or distinguishable. What particularly grated me was the fact that Nan was referred to as Vining.
She was already written in such a way that made her come across as boring and forgettable thus it was hard to relate to her or even care about her. At the very least, using her first name might have helped lessen the effect of feeling disconnected to her.
The main thing that truly bothered me was how Nan finally figured out the identity of the perpetrator view spoiler [and his wife hide spoiler ]. After chasing several possible leads and getting nowhere, she latched onto a guy for absolutely no reason except that she was unable to dismiss him as a suspect. Of course, it turned out that her hunch was right! For a crime story, such guesswork or intuition was extremely unacceptable.
Nan Vining Mysteries Series
Plus, the lack of logic and proper investigative techniques were aggravating. This book is definitely not worth the time. Apr 02, J. Else rated it it was ok. I like the concept of a female officer haunted, literally, by the murdered woman of a case she's working. I thought there were some very spooky and electrifying moments for the main character. The main character, Nan Vining, was nearly killed in the line of duty, and since then, has had an otherworldly connection.
The First Cut
I found some good moments. However, the main character is constantly working alone. There are few relationships to help reveal different sides of Officer Vining. The different character I like the concept of a female officer haunted, literally, by the murdered woman of a case she's working.
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The different characters in the Pasadena PD are not memorable, and I found it hard to keep them straight. This book is also extremely serious. There is no kidding around or funny scenes. I think a few jokes are attempted, but they are dry. The book follows both Officer Vining as well as the murderer, who is consistently sexually abusing women. Its not a fun thing to read. The two points of view did not work for me.
I think Emley should have kept with Vining's point of view. It would have helped developed the other side characters. The backstory reveals were disjointed dumps of info. The flow between past and present was not always clear. So sometimes I had to backtrack and re-read sections to figure out where I was within the timeline. Overall I think this series will develop with character personalities filling out and relationships solidifying.
There were hints at uncovering Officer Vining's attacker in between the murder investigation. I liked that the story was not so narrow a focus. However, at times the execution did not work for me. I also was not connected to the characters within the story.
I think the supernatural moments were not as strong a plot driver as they should have been. Because if Officer Vining is going to have this ability, make it useful. Otherwise, its just white noise. En voor die vijf euro was het een fijne thriller. Diane Emley schrijft fijn en het is een erg spannend boek. Vooral het begin is goed neergezet.
De spanning is goed, waardoor je steeds verder wilt lezen. Na een paar hoofdstukken komt de moordenaar aan bod. Niet alleen weet je al wat er is gebeurd, maar ook de naam van de moordenaar wordt al genoemd. Daardoor weet je in de volgende hoofdstukken of de politie al op het goede spoor is of niet en dat vond ik persoonlijk jammer. Zo is de hele spannin En voor die vijf euro was het een fijne thriller. Zo is de hele spanning weg.
Ook is er in het verleden iets gebeurd met de politieagent Nan Vining. Je verwacht dat daar ook een einde aan komt in het boek. Helaas is dit niet het geval. Ik weet niet of er een tweede boek is waar dit verhaal verder wordt uitgewerkt. In ieder geval vond ik dit niet leuk aan het einde van het boek. Door deze twee redenen heb ik het boek niet een hoog cijfer gegeven. Hij krijgt van mij wel een voldoende, omdat het boek zelf erg lekker las en ik niet met tegenzin of zo heb zitten lezen, wat soms ook het geval is.
Apr 14, Debbie Oxier rated it really liked it Shelves: Nan Vining was a cop. She'd been on the job responding to a call when she was ambushed and stabbed in the neck. She flat lined for two minutes. Now she's trying to put her life back together, hiding her panic attacks, continuing to assure her daughter she's fine. Her first day back to work, she accompanies her superior to a crime scene.
The dead body is a member of vice, Frankie Lynde. She'd gotten involved with the wrong people, crossed too many lines and had paid the price. Now it was up to Na Nan Vining was a cop.
The First Cut (Nan Vining Mysteries, book 1) by Dianne Emley
Now it was up to Nan and her former lover, Jim Kissick to find the bad guys. A really entertaining read. The mystery was rock solid, the characters ones I look forward to reading about in the next book. The author does a good job of telling her story and tying up all the loose ends.
There's also the spectre of Nan' s attacker lurking in the background since he's still running free. This is one book I would recommend. Aug 15, Julia rated it it was ok Shelves: I was very excited that the heroine of this book was a police officer and truly involved in the investigation on legitimate terms, but she is a very troubled police officer, and the murders were so gory, that I did not enjoy the book as much as I wanted to. This book reads a bit like an episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent; you get to see things from both the murderer's point of view and the police detective's point of view, which is very cool.
However, the featured bad guys were two brutal I was very excited that the heroine of this book was a police officer and truly involved in the investigation on legitimate terms, but she is a very troubled police officer, and the murders were so gory, that I did not enjoy the book as much as I wanted to. However, the featured bad guys were two brutal serial killers - one who liked to kill female police officers and another who sexually brutalized and degraded women for weeks before killing them - and at the end of the novel, only one of those serial killers has been captured.
I did not put the book down at any point with warm fuzzies. Too gruesome for me; I don't think I'll be reading any of the sequels. Aug 11, Donald rated it liked it. This is a pretty good murder-thriller book that actually has a cop as the main character figuring out whodunit. When a policewoman turns up dead after being missing for two weeks, it turns into Nat Vining's first case back from a year-long recovery from an attack on her.
Battling her "demons" and her panic attacks from the assault, Vining goes about tracking down the murderer. Well-written until some hit-you-over-the-head sections at the end about overcoming struggles and the like , this is a t This is a pretty good murder-thriller book that actually has a cop as the main character figuring out whodunit.
Well-written until some hit-you-over-the-head sections at the end about overcoming struggles and the like , this is a thriller that does indeed thrill, even though I would have liked to have seen another suspect tailed and then found to be innocent. Aug 30, Marti rated it it was ok. This book was fairly interesting, but there were a number of perverse sections. For that reason, I am not passing it on to friends of ours in our former hometown. Obviously, this series could last a long time, with Detective Nan Vining hoping to find the madman who brutalized her.
There are short blurbs by both suspense writers, Lisa Jackson, and Lisa Gardner. Somehow, I don't think that I shall seek out any subsequent books in this series. It was so brutal at first, that I almost didn't continu This book was fairly interesting, but there were a number of perverse sections. It was so brutal at first, that I almost didn't continue reading. Aug 18, Victoria rated it liked it. I read this series because I met the author at a mystery convention, and I was intrigued that she wrote mysteries based in Pasadena.
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While I enjoyed her local descriptions and her knowledge of police procedures, I found the book a little disconcerting because so much of the action and motivation for the character happens before the book begins. Not all the protagonist's motives and actions made rang true to me. I did think the climax was pretty compelling though the villain is extremely creepy I read this series because I met the author at a mystery convention, and I was intrigued that she wrote mysteries based in Pasadena.
I did think the climax was pretty compelling though the villain is extremely creepy. Aug 16, Lisa rated it really liked it. Another serial killer novel. I liked this one. I also liked the main character Detective Nan Vining. Emley chooses to write that part of the story This one got me hooked from the first chapter. Sex, drugs and very evil man. With enough twists and turns to keep my mind going.
I would definitely read another book by th Another serial killer novel. I would definitely read another book by this author.