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Strip Search: A Novel
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Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Author: William Bernhardt
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $18.94
You Save: $ 7.01 ( 27% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Author: William Bernhardt
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Average Customer Rating:
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Strip Search: A Novel Description
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780345470195
ISBN: 0345470192
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2007-08-28
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Product Release Date: 2007-08-28
Studio: Ballantine Books
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780345470195
ISBN: 0345470192
Label: Ballantine Books
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2007-08-28
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Product Release Date: 2007-08-28
Studio: Ballantine Books
Editorial Review of Strip Search: A Novel
She likes the sudden seconds of sheer terror. The neon dreams fit perfectly with the dreams that wake her up at night: about the man she loved and lost, about the constant temptations in her life, and about the odds that inevitably she’ll be in the right place at the right time to look naked, human madness in the eye.
Welcome to the world of Susan Pulaski, an unconventional and unusually subversive Las Vegas police behaviorist who’s already been canned once and has never been needed more. In the Sin City, someone is ritually murdering handpicked victims, each with dirty secrets in their past. The killer’s gimmick: Not only does he leave behind parts of the victims’ bodies, he also writes obscure mathematical formulas–in their blood. Pulaski doesn’t have a clue what the codes mean. But she knows someone who will.
Darcy O’Bannon is a twenty-six-year-old whose autistic savant skills are perfect for unraveling such mysteries as how many rivets are in the Eiffel Tower and how many Elvis impersonators there will be in the year 2020. As it turns out, innocent Darcy can also think along the arcane lines of Vegas’s most savage serial killer, peering into a numerological mystery that stretches back hundreds of years.
With her own life one spark away from going off the rails, her department turned against her, and the lives of those she cares most about in jeopardy, Pulaski hunts for dangerous prey in the shadow of the Strip–with herself as the perfect bait. And the closer she gets, the more terrifying and intriguing the case becomes, for the person she’s tracking possesses truly ingenious powers–and a heart full of hate.
The incomparable William Bernhardt brings to life America’s most fascinating city and the people who police it, while he invites the reader to join one woman’s fight to stay sane, stay alive, and keep a killer from making the most shocking score of all.
Welcome to the world of Susan Pulaski, an unconventional and unusually subversive Las Vegas police behaviorist who’s already been canned once and has never been needed more. In the Sin City, someone is ritually murdering handpicked victims, each with dirty secrets in their past. The killer’s gimmick: Not only does he leave behind parts of the victims’ bodies, he also writes obscure mathematical formulas–in their blood. Pulaski doesn’t have a clue what the codes mean. But she knows someone who will.
Darcy O’Bannon is a twenty-six-year-old whose autistic savant skills are perfect for unraveling such mysteries as how many rivets are in the Eiffel Tower and how many Elvis impersonators there will be in the year 2020. As it turns out, innocent Darcy can also think along the arcane lines of Vegas’s most savage serial killer, peering into a numerological mystery that stretches back hundreds of years.
With her own life one spark away from going off the rails, her department turned against her, and the lives of those she cares most about in jeopardy, Pulaski hunts for dangerous prey in the shadow of the Strip–with herself as the perfect bait. And the closer she gets, the more terrifying and intriguing the case becomes, for the person she’s tracking possesses truly ingenious powers–and a heart full of hate.
The incomparable William Bernhardt brings to life America’s most fascinating city and the people who police it, while he invites the reader to join one woman’s fight to stay sane, stay alive, and keep a killer from making the most shocking score of all.
Customer Reviews of Strip Search: A Novel
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Remember ... this is FICTION
Review: I would hate for anyone to have to read this book. Furthermore, I would hate it more if anyone thought that the mathematics embedded in it was correct. Get a mathematical consultant next time, William!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A waste of time to read this
Review: Any good reviews of this book have got to be written by family members or something of the author. This book is just bad. I liked Dark Eye, thought it was different, a little of a stretch, but still pretty good. So I was eager to get this and I didn't even make it past the first ten pages. It was just a giant "yeah right" with the way that the guard talked to the woman and Darcy boy genius coming to such far stretched conclusions, I just put it down. My husband attempted it and had the same result. If you ignore this and insist on reading it, get it at the library so you aren't out any money. What a disappointment!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Poorly developed and not engaging
Review: This is the first time I have read a Bernhardt novel. I am a fan of all the other typical thriller authors - Lee Child, Michael Connelly, John Sanford, etc. I was very disappointed. I think the overall plot was a great idea - I liked the numerology involved - but I just didn't think he did a good job establishing the characters. There was no one character that I was rooting for. Although Darcy, the autistic companion, was interesting, I didn't feel particularly connected to any of the characters. I found myself skimming through the book to get to the end just to find out what the outcome was and not really caring about the pages in the middle. Sometimes Bernhardt would be very detailed about certain specifics (numerology and its history) but I didn't feel it was well woven into the book. It was like he took a couple pages from an encyclopedia and threw them into the middle of the book. I also found that in some of the passages he didn't have a good grasp on writing in the first person for a female character. Some of her thoughts (about a female friend in particular) seemed more from a man's view rather than a woman's. Overall, I was very disappointed because I was hoping to find another author I could enjoy and count on for quality material. I just didn't find it with this one. Being able to sit down to read a book is a luxury and I regretted the time wasted on this book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Strip Search
Review: As a killer stalks the streets of Las Vegas, using numerology to target his victims, outcast detective Susan Pulaski is reunited with autistic savant Darcy O'Bannon, who may be the only one who can understand the murderer's complex mathematical game.
I guess the only thing I like about Susan Pulaski is the fact that her friend, the autistic savant Darcy, hangs out with her. Her character, as mentioned by others, is not likeable. Darcy, on the other hand, makes the novel what it is.
I like Bernhardt's novels and think he's a wonderful author. He writes a well rounded thriller with plenty of suspense and thrills.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Loose, but worthy entertainment!
Review: Susan Pulaski is an unlikable character, at least the most unlikable Bernhardt has created, and an unlikely hero. As thrillers go this one has a few heart thumping moments, but too often it falls short on credibility, especially during a particularly violent confrontation in the ME's office.
The drug use seems oversimplistic and Pulaski's miraculous recovery completely unlikely to be accomplished in several days with only time off and no time in a drug rehab program like a normal person might expect to be assigned to.
William Bernhardt's books have always been well plotted and populated with interesting characters. Strip Search doesn't quite make the cut to the top of the list, but it is worth the effort if only to spend several entertaining hours passing time until sleep comes.
Review Summary: Remember ... this is FICTION
Review: I would hate for anyone to have to read this book. Furthermore, I would hate it more if anyone thought that the mathematics embedded in it was correct. Get a mathematical consultant next time, William!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A waste of time to read this
Review: Any good reviews of this book have got to be written by family members or something of the author. This book is just bad. I liked Dark Eye, thought it was different, a little of a stretch, but still pretty good. So I was eager to get this and I didn't even make it past the first ten pages. It was just a giant "yeah right" with the way that the guard talked to the woman and Darcy boy genius coming to such far stretched conclusions, I just put it down. My husband attempted it and had the same result. If you ignore this and insist on reading it, get it at the library so you aren't out any money. What a disappointment!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Poorly developed and not engaging
Review: This is the first time I have read a Bernhardt novel. I am a fan of all the other typical thriller authors - Lee Child, Michael Connelly, John Sanford, etc. I was very disappointed. I think the overall plot was a great idea - I liked the numerology involved - but I just didn't think he did a good job establishing the characters. There was no one character that I was rooting for. Although Darcy, the autistic companion, was interesting, I didn't feel particularly connected to any of the characters. I found myself skimming through the book to get to the end just to find out what the outcome was and not really caring about the pages in the middle. Sometimes Bernhardt would be very detailed about certain specifics (numerology and its history) but I didn't feel it was well woven into the book. It was like he took a couple pages from an encyclopedia and threw them into the middle of the book. I also found that in some of the passages he didn't have a good grasp on writing in the first person for a female character. Some of her thoughts (about a female friend in particular) seemed more from a man's view rather than a woman's. Overall, I was very disappointed because I was hoping to find another author I could enjoy and count on for quality material. I just didn't find it with this one. Being able to sit down to read a book is a luxury and I regretted the time wasted on this book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Strip Search
Review: As a killer stalks the streets of Las Vegas, using numerology to target his victims, outcast detective Susan Pulaski is reunited with autistic savant Darcy O'Bannon, who may be the only one who can understand the murderer's complex mathematical game.
I guess the only thing I like about Susan Pulaski is the fact that her friend, the autistic savant Darcy, hangs out with her. Her character, as mentioned by others, is not likeable. Darcy, on the other hand, makes the novel what it is.
I like Bernhardt's novels and think he's a wonderful author. He writes a well rounded thriller with plenty of suspense and thrills.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Loose, but worthy entertainment!
Review: Susan Pulaski is an unlikable character, at least the most unlikable Bernhardt has created, and an unlikely hero. As thrillers go this one has a few heart thumping moments, but too often it falls short on credibility, especially during a particularly violent confrontation in the ME's office.
The drug use seems oversimplistic and Pulaski's miraculous recovery completely unlikely to be accomplished in several days with only time off and no time in a drug rehab program like a normal person might expect to be assigned to.
William Bernhardt's books have always been well plotted and populated with interesting characters. Strip Search doesn't quite make the cut to the top of the list, but it is worth the effort if only to spend several entertaining hours passing time until sleep comes.