Close to Home

By T.A. Stone

Mystery/Thriller: In CLOSE TO HOME, a brutal killer with a bloody sense of revenge terrorizes the affluent Chicago suburb of Ravensburg. First the well-scrubbed teenage "girl next door" is found dead,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0759905363
• ISBN13: 9780759905368
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Hard Shell Word Factory
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Impressive!

T.A. Stone's only mistake as a writer is allowing me to review his books, because otherwise I'd be lining up to buy them. He's one of my favorite authors, and I anxiously await every new title this gifted writer chooses to share with us. NO PLACE LIKE HOME marks the return of one of my favorite characters in contemporary fiction, Jonathan Kraag. He was an FBI profiler before the job almost destroyed him. Now he's a private investigator and police consultant, facing his old demons because he's just so good at what he does. All the characters are real and memorable, both the old favorites and the newcomers, and you'll enjoy spending some time with them. The action is fast-paced, with a juicy mystery and plenty of challenges in solving it. The writing is excellent on many levels. You can read the departmental and political intrigue, and the secrets beneath the veneer of "the best city in America to raise a family," and know the author has been there. Once I started reading it, I simply couldn't put it down until I was finished. Even then, it stayed with me for a long time, and I know I'll read it again. T.A. Stone is a master. Get this book.

Watch for the name T. A. Stone

Jon Kraag, VP of Security at ADMS in Ravensburg, Illinois, is called in by his old army buddy who is now Ravensburg's mayor. Jon is a former FBI profiler with extensive experience; in fact, he's written a book on it, but he's never been called on to help with a case quite like this one. A man and a woman have been murdered in her bedroom, their posed and mutilated bodies discovered by her husband. The male victim is a local preacher and bachelor. The female victim has always, as far as her husband knows, been faithful. Within the past few months two other people have been murdered using the same M.O., although they were never connected by the local police. Now the mayor wants to hide the fact that these two are connected to the first two. As Jon begins to profile and investigate these murders, he realizes the killer is moving more frequently, the mutilations are getting worse, and he knows the killer will soon strike again. Add to all of this an unsatisfactory love affair in Jon's life, the fact that he's a manic-depressive who has to fight himself to remember to take his pills, he has an obnoxious new female police detective running at odds with him almost all the time, and you have not just another serial killer novel. You have one of the most brilliantly conceived, fast-moving serial killer novels this reviewer has ever read. You're with Jon all the way, struggling with him through manic episodes that threaten to wreck his peace of mind, and racing against time with him as he tries to shake his own demons long enough to get inside the killer's mind and stop him before he kills again. I loved everything about this book. The characters-especially Jon-the speed of the action, and the no-holds-barred investigation into a seemingly pristine small town which, underneath its slick veneer, is teeming with adulterous secrets, police departmental intrigue, and murder. I read this book without stopping; I literally could not put it down. I can't remember ever being this completely riveted by a murder mystery; my husband said the same thing. This book truly deserves all the accolades sure to be heaped upon it, and more. Watch for the name T. A. Stone. If anyone is destined for the NY Times bestseller list, this author is. B.A.