Eve Duncan returns as the popular heroine of Iris Johansen's latest suspense thriller, The Killing Game. After the murder of her daughter Bonnie and years of work as a forensic sculptor, Eve had hoped to find some solace in semi-retirement. But when her friend Joe Quinn informs her of the unearthing of multiple bodies, including those of children, Eve cannot resist getting caught up. Those bones may be Bonnie's, and somewhere out there is a dangerous serial murderer. With Joe's loyal help, Eve grimly sets out to find a killer.

Determined to remain objective, Eve begins to reconstruct the face of one of the victims. But the killer wants her to become involved, and manipulates Eve's life like a puppeteer. Terrified of the killer but spurred on by her memories of Bonnie, Eve takes a gamble with her life. She will do whatever the murderer demands: she will be the bait, betting her life for the chance to save others.

As a great suspense novel should, The Killing Game keeps the action and the plot twists coming. Eve's job as a forensic sculptor is the perfect profession for a suspense heroine: she has official access to technical information and the emotional flexibility to react to the drama. Eve's grieving over the loss of Bonnie--and over her romantic complications--helps keep the story complex and appealing. Turn on all of the lights and keep the phone nearby--you won't want to be alone in the dark while reading this one. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien


From Publishers Weekly
Johansen is at the top of her game with this sinuous thriller. Emotionally damaged and self-contained forensic sculptor Eve Duncan (The Face of Deception) makes a return appearance, along with her old friend, the cynical, coolly smart cop Joe Quinn. At the start of the book, EveAdevoted to forensic reconstruction since her eight-year-old daughter was murdered in Johansen's previous novel, her body never foundAhas abandoned the day-to-day world for life on a Tahitian island. Eve's tropical exile is interrupted, however, when Joe shows up to tell her that a pile of bodies has been discovered in the Georgia woods, including that of a young girl he believes may be Eve's daughter. Determined to reconstruct the skull and hoping to lay her daughter to rest, Eve returns to the U.S. Her arrival draws the attention of Dom, the psychotic serial killer responsible for the Georgia murders. Random attacks on social outcasts don't produce the rush they once did for Dom, and now he needs to up the ante, by stalking and murdering more prominent people and interacting with his victims before he attacks. Eve, whose story he has long followed in newspaper accounts, becomes his next target. Delaying their confrontation until he feels it will have full impact, he interrupts her reconstruction work, plants doubts in her mind about the details of her daughter's death and threatens to kill a young foundlingAa redheaded girl like her daughterAwhom she befriends. An enthralling cat-and-mouse game ensues, throughout which Johansen maintains perfect pacing, always revealing just enough to keep the reader turning the pages. Aided by smart and realistic dialogue, the suspense holds until the very end. Major ad/promo; BDD audio. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Johansen aims for the four million mark (her previous thrillers having collectively sold over three million copies) with this story of a forensic sculptor stalked by the serial killer responsible for her daughter's death. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
A killer has been loose for thirty years, eluding capture and brutalizing scores of victims. Now he has his sights on Eve Duncan, a forensic sculptor whose young daughter was murdered ten years earlier. Lefkow delivers a compelling performance, spanning a range of characters from young children to a murderous psychopath. The only detraction is her jarring pronunciation of "Quantico," which makes the FBI base almost unrecognizable as such. Unfortunately, her widely ranging volume also makes this a difficult selection for listening in the car. B.L.W. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan was raised in poverty, with an absentee dad and a cocaine-addicted mother. She overcame all odds, escaped her past, and became successful, only to have her eight-year-old daughter, Bonnie, abducted and murdered. Although Bonnie's body was never found, her accused killer was eventually put to death. Now Eve's friend, cop Joe Quinn, is involved in the discovery of a mass grave, and one of the skeletons is that of an eight-year-old child who could be Bonnie. But before the skeleton can be identified, Eve finds herself stalked by a terrifying killer who calls himself Dom, claims he murdered Bonnie, and gleefully threatens to kill Eve in the most gruesome way imaginable. Clearly, Dom is insane, but he knows enough about Eve to be able to push all her buttons. Dom's cat-and-mouse tactics terrify Eve, but they also make her furious--and determined to fight back. She vows to play Dom's fiendish game, offering herself as the "willing" victim to catch the killer. A cross between King's nightmarish chillers and Cornwell's forensic thrillers, Johansen's novel of psychological suspense features a hair-raising plot, a fiendish killer, a brave heroine, and dozens of heart-stopping plot twists. A certain winner. Emily Melton


From Kirkus Reviews
The second of Johansens suspensers starring Eve Duncan (The Face of Deception, 1998), a forensic sculptor who shapes human faces from the skulls of murder victims. The serial killer who murdered Eves daughter Bonnie refused to tell her where he stashed the body. Eve has therefore devoted her life to bringing back her Bonnie and also the remains of other murdered children (the ``lost ones''), so that their families can have the closure of a proper burial. In this she is helped by tough Atlanta PD detective Joe Quinn, whose marriage, thanks to his obsession with Eve, was conveniently dissolved in The Face of Deception. Continuing in his role of investigator, protector, and grief therapist, he now hopes to add lover to that list and to get moody Eve to take a few emotional risks. For some flimsy reasons that may be recognizable to other serial killers, another deranged murderer has targeted Eve because his 20-year killing spree has left him burnt out and he hopes that murdering Eve will give him a fresh new direction. This mysterious monster, called ``Dom,'' tells her that he was really Bonnies killer, and that hell murder a ten-year-old girl, Jane, if Eve doesn't play his game. This gives Eve a chance to bond with Jane, a tough kid who like Eve was born in the slums of Atlanta, and to spend nearly all her time with Joe, a human guardian angel who seems never to sleep. Also watching over Eve is the ghost of Bonnie, who talks to her in dreams and is either a real angel or a figment of Eves subconscious. Eve, Joe, and Jane, accompanied by the FBI, a journalist, and Sarah Patrick and her near-cadaver dog Monte, a golden retriever trained to locate bodies, pursue the increasingly bloodthirsty killer to Arizona, where they bring him down on the site of his tortured childhood. Johansen creates some nonconformist women characters along with heroes as devoted to them as golden retrievers. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
"Johansen is at the top of her game....an enthralling cat-and-mouse game...perfect pacing...the suspense holds until the very end."
--Publishers Weekly


Review
"Johansen is at the top of her game....an enthralling cat-and-mouse game...perfect pacing...the suspense holds until the very end."
--Publishers Weekly


Book Description
A merciless killer on the hunt...an innocent child in his sights...a woman driven to the edge to stop him...

The killer knows Eve Duncan all too well. He knows the pain she feels for her murdered daughter, Bonnie, whose body has never been found. He knows that as one of the nation's top forensic sculptors she'll insist on identifying the nine skeletons unearthed on a bluff near Georgia's Talladega Falls. He knows she won't be able to resist the temptation of believing that one of those skeletons might be her daughter's. But that is only the beginning of the killer's sadistic game. He wants Eve one on one, and he'll use his ace in the hole to make sure she complies. And he won't stop playing until he claims the prize he wants most: Eve's life.


From the Inside Flap
A merciless killer on the hunt...an innocent child in his sights...a woman driven to the edge to stop him...

The killer knows Eve Duncan all too well. He knows the pain she feels for her murdered daughter, Bonnie, whose body has never been found. He knows that as one of the nation's top forensic sculptors she'll insist on identifying the nine skeletons unearthed on a bluff near Georgia's Talladega Falls. He knows she won't be able to resist the temptation of believing that one of those skeletons might be her daughter's. But that is only the beginning of the killer's sadistic game. He wants Eve one on one, and he'll use his ace in the hole to make sure she complies. And he won't stop playing until he claims the prize he wants most: Eve's life.


From the Back Cover
"Johansen is at the top of her game....an enthralling cat-and-mouse game...perfect pacing...the suspense holds until the very end."
--Publishers Weekly



About the Author
Iris Johansen, who has more than eight million copies of her books in print, has won many awards for her achievements in writing. The bestselling author of The Face of Deception, And Then You Die, Long After Midnight, and The Ugly Duckling lives near Atlanta, Georgia, where she is currently at work on a new novel.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Talladega Falls, Georgia
January 20
6:35 A.M.

The skeleton had been in the ground for a long time. Joe Quinn had seen enough of them to recognize that. But how long?  He turned to Sheriff Bosworth. "Who found it?"

"Two hikers. They stumbled on it late last night. Those rains the past few days washed it out of the ground. Hell, that storm slid half the mountain into the falls. A real gully washer." His gaze narrowed on Joe's face. "You must have hotfooted up here from Atlanta as soon as you heard about it."

"Yes."

"You think it's connected to one of the Atlanta PD's cases?"

"Maybe." He paused. "No. This is an adult."

"You're looking for a kid?"

"Yes." Every day. Every night. Always. He shrugged. "The initial report didn't say whether it was an adult or a child."

Bosworth bristled. "So? I never have to make reports like this. We're pretty crime free here. Not like Atlanta."

"You knew enough to recognize possible knife wounds to the skeleton's rib cage. But I do admit our problems are a little different. What's your population?"

"Don't come up here and slam me, Quinn. We've got a strong law enforcement body. We don't need any city cops messing around our jurisdiction."

He'd made a mistake, Joe thought wearily. He hadn't slept in nearly twenty-four hours, but that was no excuse. It was always an error to criticize local police even when they were taking potshots at you. Bosworth was probably a good cop, and he'd been polite until Joe cast aspersions on how he did his job. "I'm sorry. No offense."

"I do take offense. You have no idea what our problems are here. Do you know how many tourists we have every year? And how many get lost or hurt in these mountains? We may not have murderers or drug dealers, but we take care of every one of our citizens besides those tenderfeet who come up from Atlanta and camp in our parks and fall down in gorges and mess up--"

"Okay, okay." Joe held up his hand in surrender. "I said I was sorry. I didn't mean to downplay your problems. I guess I'm a little jealous."

His gaze wandered out over the mountains and the falls. Even with Bosworth's men climbing all over, taping and scouring the area, it was still unbelievably beautiful. "I'd like to live here. It would be nice to wake up every morning to all this peace."

Bosworth was slightly appeased. "It's God's country. The Indians used to call the falls 'the place of tumbling moonlight.'" He scowled. "And we don't find skeletons like this. This must be one of yours. Our people don't kill each other and toss the bodies into the ground."

"Perhaps. It's a long way to transport a body. But in this wilderness, it would be quite a while before a corpse is discovered."

Bosworth nodded. "Hell, if it hadn't been for the rains and the mud slide, we might not have found it for twenty, thirty years."

"Who knows? It might be that long already. I'll get out of your way. I'm sure your medical examiner will want to get at the bones and examine them."

"We have a coroner. He's the local undertaker." Bosworth added quickly, "But Pauley's always willing to ask for help when he needs it."

"He'll need it. If I were you, I'd make a formal request to our pathology department. They're usually willing to cooperate."

"Could you do it for us?"

"I can't. I'll be glad to put in a word, but I'm here in an unofficial capacity."

Bosworth frowned. "You didn't say that. You just flashed your badge and started asking me questions." His eyes suddenly widened. "My God, you're Quinn."

"It's no secret. I told you that."

"But I didn't make the connection. I've been hearing about you for years. The skeleton man. Three years ago you were over in Coweta County checking out two skeletons found there. Then there was that body found in the swamps near Valdosta. You were down there too. And that skeleton up near Chattanooga that you--"

"Word does get around, doesn't it?" Joe smiled sardonically. "I'd think you'd have better things to talk about. So? Do the stories make me some kind of urban legend?"

"No, just a curiosity. You're looking for those kids, aren't you? The ones Fraser killed and then refused to tell where he'd buried them." He frowned. "That was almost ten years ago. I'd think you'd give up."

"Their parents haven't given up. They want their children home for proper burial." He looked down at the skeleton. "Most victims belong to someone somewhere."

"Yeah." Bosworth shook his head. "Kids. I never understand why anyone would kill a kid. It makes me sick."

"Me too."

"I've got three kids. I guess I'd feel the same way those parents do. God, I hope I never find out." Bosworth was silent a moment. "Those cases must have been closed when Fraser was executed. It's mighty decent of you to keep trying to find those children on your own time."

One child. Eve's child. "It's not decent. It's just something I've got to do." He turned away. "Thanks for putting up with me, Sheriff. Call me if I can act as liaison between your coroner and the Atlanta PD."

"I'd appreciate that."

He started down the cliff and then stopped. To hell with not offending another law officer. The sheriff was clearly out of his depth, and by the time someone knowledgeable came on the scene, it might be too late to save the evidence. "Could I make a couple of suggestions?"

Bosworth stared at him warily.

"Get someone out here to photograph the body and entire crime scene."

"I was going to do that."

"Do it now. I know your guys are doing their best to locate evidence, but they're probably destroying more than they're finding. A metal detector should be used in case there's any evidence covered by the mud. And get a forensic archaeologist to excavate the skeleton and an entomologist to examine any dead insects or larvae. It's probably too late for the entomologist, but you can never tell."

"We don't have any of those people on our staff."

"You can hire them from a university. It may save you from having egg on your face later."

Bosworth thought about it and then said slowly, "Maybe I'll do that."

"It's up to you." Joe continued down the hill toward his car parked on the gravel road below.

Another blank; it had been a long shot anyway. But he'd had to check it out. He had to check them all out. Someday he'd get lucky and find Bonnie. He had to find her. He had no choice.



Bosworth stared after Quinn as he walked down the hill. Not a bad guy. A little too cool and contained, but maybe that went with dealing with those scumbags in the city. Thank God, he didn't have any weirdos out here. Just good people trying to lead a good life.

The skeleton man. He hadn't told the truth. Quinn was more of a legend than a curiosity. He had once been an FBI agent but had quit the Bureau after Fraser was executed. He was now a detective with the Atlanta PD and supposedly a good cop. Tough as nails and squeaky clean. These days it was hard for city cops not to give in to temptation. That was one of the reasons Bosworth stayed in Rabun County. He never wanted to experience the cynicism and disillusionment he had seen in Quinn's face. He couldn't be forty yet, but he looked as if he had gone to hell and back.

Bosworth glanced down at the skeleton. This was the kind of thing Quinn faced on a daily basis. Hell, he even went looking for it. Well, let him have it. Bosworth would be glad to get rid of the skeleton. It wasn't fair for his people to be drawn into this nasty--

His walkie-talkie buzzed and he pressed the button. "Bosworth."

"Quinn!"

Joe looked over his shoulder at Bosworth at the top of the cliff. "What?"

"Come back up here. My deputy just radioed me that my men on the far ridge have found more bodies." He paused. "Well, skeletons."

Joe tensed. "How many?"

Bosworth's plump face had paled in the early morning light, and he looked dazed. "Eight, so far. He thinks one of them is a little kid."



They had found the Talladega bodies.

Dom turned off the television set and leaned back in his chair to consider the ramifications.

As far as he knew, this was the first time any of his kills had been discovered. He had always been very careful and methodical, always going the extra mile. In this case many extra miles. Those had all been Atlanta kills and he had transported the bodies to what had been his favorite graveyard then.

Now they had been found, not through diligent search but by an accident of nature.

Or an act of God?

Any religious fanatic would say that God's hand had uncovered those bodies to bring him to justice.

He smiled. Screw all those holier-than-thou fanatics. If there was a God, he looked forward to taking him on. It might be the challenge he needed just then.

The Talladega skeletons were little threat. By the time of those murders, he had learned enough not to leave a hint of evidence.
If there had been any mistakes, the rain and mud had probably erased them.

He hadn't been as careful in the early days. The thrill had been too intense, the fear too vivid. He'd even picked his victims at random to make the kill more uncertain. He was long past such foolishness. But he'd been so methodical lately that the excitement was dwindling. If the excitement went away, then so did his reason for living.

He quickly blocked the thought. He'd gone through this before. He just had to remember that the satisfaction came from the kill itself. Everything else was a plus. If he needed a challenge he'd choose someone harder, someone with ties, someone who was loved and would be missed.

As for the discovery at Talladega, he must look on it only as an interesting development, something to watch with amusement and curiosity as the law struggled to put together the pieces.
Who had been the kills at Talladega? He vaguely remembered a blond prostitute, a homeless black man, a teenager selling his body on the streets...and the little girl.

Funny, but until that moment he'd completely forgotten about the little girl.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The killer knew Eve Duncan all too well. He knew the pain she felt for her murdered daughter, Bonnie, whose body was never found. He knew that as one of the nation's top forensic sculptors she would insist on identifying nine skeletons unearthed on a bluff near Georgia's Talladega Falls. And he knew that she wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of believing that one of those skeletons - the one belonging to a young girl - might be Bonnie's.. "But that is only the beginning of the killer's sadistic game. Soon the calls begin to come. Sly, insinuating, chilling. Whoever is on the other end of the line is watching. He sees every move Eve makes. He savors her pain. He could strike at any time. But that's not what he wants - not yet.. "In a heartbeat, Eve's world is turned upside down. Not even the two tough, powerful, and relentless men who would do anything to keep Eve safe can help her.. "Now Eve Duncan must match wits with the most dangerous of psychopaths.

SYNOPSIS

-->
A merciless killer on the hunt...an innocent child in his sights...a woman driven to the edge to stop him...

The killer knows Eve Duncan all too well. He knows the pain she feels for her murdered daughter, Bonnie, whose body has never been found.

FROM THE CRITICS

Jill H. Smith - Romantic Times

The Killing Game is a masterpiece of chilling terror and powerful romantic suspense. Ms. Johansen is clearly at the top of her game!

Publishers Weekly

Johansen is at the top of her game with this sinuous thriller. Emotionally damaged and self-contained forensic sculptor Eve Duncan (The Face of Deception) makes a return appearance, along with her old friend, the cynical, coolly smart cop Joe Quinn. At the start of the book, Eve--devoted to forensic reconstruction since her eight-year-old daughter was murdered in Johansen's previous novel, her body never found--has abandoned the day-to-day world for life on a Tahitian island. Eve's tropical exile is interrupted, however, when Joe shows up to tell her that a pile of bodies has been discovered in the Georgia woods, including that of a young girl he believes may be Eve's daughter. Determined to reconstruct the skull and hoping to lay her daughter to rest, Eve returns to the U.S. Her arrival draws the attention of Dom, the psychotic serial killer responsible for the Georgia murders. Random attacks on social outcasts don't produce the rush they once did for Dom, and now he needs to up the ante, by stalking and murdering more prominent people and interacting with his victims before he attacks. Eve, whose story he has long followed in newspaper accounts, becomes his next target. Delaying their confrontation until he feels it will have full impact, he interrupts her reconstruction work, plants doubts in her mind about the details of her daughter's death and threatens to kill a young foundling--a redheaded girl like her daughter--whom she befriends. An enthralling cat-and-mouse game ensues, throughout which Johansen maintains perfect pacing, always revealing just enough to keep the reader turning the pages. Aided by smart and realistic dialogue, the suspense holds until the very end. Major ad/promo; BDD audio. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

In her newest thriller featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, Johansen pits Eve against a serial killer who claims to have her long-lost daughter's body and who wants Eve to be his next victim. He further draws her into his game by hatching a plot to kill ten-year-old Jane MacGuire. Before long, Eve and Jane are on the run, barely steps ahead of the killer, and it seems that even the ever-faithful detective Joe Quinn and business tycoon John Logan can't save them. Reader Laurel Lefkow does a nice job working with the text: enhancing the suspense; conveying Eve's moods, which range from fear to anger to frustration; and revealing the closeness Eve begins to feel toward Jane and the budding romance between Eve and Joe. The reading is only marred by a jarring voice Lefkow creates for the FBI profiler assigned to the case. However, this is a production that will keep the listener guessing until the very last cassette. Highly recommended for popular collections.--Adrienne Furness, Maplewood Community Lib., Rochester, NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

AudioFile - AudioFile Review

A killer has been loose for thirty years, eluding capture and brutalizing scores of victims. Now he has his sights on Eve Duncan, a forensic sculptor whose young daughter was murdered ten years earlier. Lefkow delivers a compelling performance, spanning a range of characters from young children to a murderous psychopath. The only detraction is her jarring pronunciation of "Quantico," which makes the FBI base almost unrecognizable as such. Unfortunately, her widely ranging volume also makes this a difficult selection for listening in the car. B.L.W. ￯﾿ﾽ AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

Read by Laurel Lefkow

Flynn

The killings are lurid, the romance is lusty, and the zigzag plot zips along. You'll find your quick-read needs thoroughly sated.