This is a book that grows on you. Very unsatisfying as the story moves forward, but the last ten pages pay off your patience.

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Product Description

Police Detective Kathleen Mallory recognized the crime scene: victim hanging, hair in mouth, fire burning. It happened twenty-one years ago, when Mallory was a child. She also recognized the victim...

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #402002 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-26
• Released on: 2003-08-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780515135350
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Mallory, the feral street urchin adopted by an understanding police detective, grew up to be a tough, formidable cop herself, and in the five earlier thrillers featuring her exploits, Carol O'Connell has dropped few clues about her early life. Crime School fills in the blanks with this complex tale about Mallory's efforts to solve the attempted murder of the knife-wielding prostitute who once sheltered and later betrayed her--a copycat crime nearly identical to another that occurred two decades ago. Fans of this series and its unique, complicated, steely protagonist will welcome O'Connell back to the bestseller lists after a protracted absence, while those who've been waiting for the emergence of a kinder, gentler Mallory, able to return the affections of those who love her--like Charles Butler, the quirky criminologist whose unrequited adoration of Mallory knows no bounds, and her partner, Riker, who's known her since his old friend Markowitz plucked her off the streets--may be disappointed. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
In this seventh gripping entry in O'Connell's popular Mallory series, Special Crimes investigator Kathy Mallory again prowls the mean streets of New York, digging deeper into her past even as she and her cohorts ferret out a grisly serial killer. Each novel in the series reveals a little more about the utterly improbable and compellingly mythic life story of its protagonist, a tough cop and computer ace raised by hookers on the streets of New York. In this installment, Mallory's particular mentor, the prostitute Sparrow, is found partially scalped, hanging in a room decorated with jars of dead flies an M.O. that recalls a murderer from decades ago. The grim murder plot is offset by a cast of cartoony characters, ranging from series regular Charles Butler, Mallory's gentle giant best friend, to the rookie yellow-haired detective Ronald Deluthe, aka Duck Boy. O'Connell illuminates these oddballs with her lightly whimsical prose: "When Charles closed his tired eyes, he saw a tiny thief who ran with whores and lived by guile, surviving on animal instinct to get through the night an altogether admirable child." The side puzzle, a bibliomystery involving a series of pulp Westerns that obsessed Mallory as a girl, almost steals the show when it is solved. This novel is gritty, streetwise, funny and sure to bring in more fans for the still-enigmatic Mallory.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Mallory's back! That's all O'Connell's many fans will need to hear before they grab this novel off the shelf. O'Connell's singular detective (Mallory's Oracle) has always treaded a fine line between heroine and psychopath. In this installment, more is revealed about how the always intelligent, always scary Kathy Mallory got that way. A serial killer's modus operandi involving stalking, hanging, and dead flies hits Mallory and her partner hard when one of the victims is a former prostitute who used to read Mallory bedtime stories when she was a homeless wild child. O'Connell neatly pairs the two story lines of Mallory's mysterious past and her current investigation even as she heightens the tension by alternating passages from the next victim's point of view. O'Connell delivers all the best parts of suspense fiction - plot twists, chilling details, and a rapid pace - while simultaneously delving into the psyche of her protagonists. She displays not only the dark horrors of the criminal mind but also what lurks in the hearts of those who try to protect us. Public libraries should buy multiple copies for their Mallory fans. - Devon Thomas, Hass MS&L, Ann Arbor, MI
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

Another hit in the Mallory series
This 6th in the series (following Mallory's Oracle, The Man Who Cast Two Shadows, Killing Critics, Stone Angel, and (for me)the disappointing Shell Game)expands the character and pysche of the troubled Sgt. Kathleen Mallory. This borderline pysocopath/sociopath cop battles her own personal demons of murder, betrayal, and revenge as she sets out to stop a serial killer. The similarities between the killer and the cop are both subtle and striking. We learn more about her twisted childhood and her relationship with Riker and Charles Butler. I thought this book was a fascinating portrayal of a very disturbing woman. The story was fast-paced and very suspenseful. I suggest that readers finish the earlier volumes in the series to better understand Mallory's background.

Another haunting Mallory mystery
What is it about Carol O'Connell's Kathy Mallory series? Kathy Mallory is about the least sympathetic heroine of any genre...a genuine anti-anti-anti heroine. And O'Connell's writing is moody and rough - kind of like its places-you've-never-been-in-New York setting. These are never easy reads and yet I can't put them down, especially Crime School. I think it may be because I like Charles Butler and Detective Riker so very much. And because they love Mallory despite everything. And because I want her to finally pay attention to Charles (which she never will). As usual, O'Connell's plots fly all around the past and present and you have to hang on for dear life. And, as usual, you end up wanting to know more. But isn't that the hallmark of a good book? I still think that O'Connell's best book was the standalone (not of the Mallory series) "Judas Child", wherein again she specializes in wounded characters. Who knows where these twisted humans come from in Carol O'Connell's brain, but she certainly does give them convincing life.

Mallory's world is *always* fascinating- a winner!
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Mallory (don't call her "Kathy" if you want to live), is a unique detective hero. She's an NYPD "Special Crimes" Detective, who makes her own rules, takes no hostages, and can make you believe she'd kill for her own sense of justice.

~ * ~ Mallory was taken in at age 10 ?? by an NYPD cop, who found her as a tough street kid, apparently a "throwaway". In earlier novels she is eerily without the type of "consicence" we recognize though we can sympathize with her ruthless pursuit of justice, especially in avenging her foster father's death.

In the novel, "Stone Angel", we learned a little about how she came to live on the New York streets.

In this story we learn more about her life on the streets, when a prostitute is found hanged at an arson scene. Riker, Mallory
s partner, a friend of Mallory's father, recognizes the victim as a woman who once gave sporadic shelter and comfort to Mallory as a child.

Mallory has a score to settle with the victim, but she is no less driven to find the killer, terrorizing firefighters and rookie detectives,and walking right over supervising officers's command.

This entry was wonderful for the haunting, yet strangely compelling back story of that illuminates the child Kathy's quest for a sense "home" and "comfort" with the prostitutes, drug dealers, and theives on the streets.

Supporting cast Detective Riker, and genius consultant Charles Butler are written very well, and their dedication to a strange blend of love, healthy fear, and protectiveness of Mallory is just wonderful.

I recommend "Stone Angel" as a companion to the story, together, they offer a wonderful portrait of our herione.