There are 2 sides to every story…
For as long as he could remember Detective Charles Street wanted to be a police officer, moreover a Detective. He wanted to be knee deep in the action, working the biggest cases, and reaping the biggest rewards. He also didn’t think when his dream job came a calling that it would ever turn into his nightmare.
For as long as he could remember Jack Casey just … remember Jack Casey just wanted to be free, his own man to do what he pleased when pleased. He too craved the action and when his dream life came a calling, he didn’t think he would meet anyone his equal and definitely didn’t think he could ever have difficulty leave the world he loathed and mocked behind.
Amongst The Killing documents each of their stories, told in their own words, as the moments unfolded when their paths first crossed and their lives intersected. How two men, with two different philosophies, could be so different and yet so connected.
As the ultimate cat and mouse game unfolds, each has to deal separately with the others decisions and the effects it has in turning their lives sideways and upside down. Will one of them crack? Will one of them even succeed? Ultimately the journey may mean more than the game and show both of them the outcome neither was ever expecting.
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I’ve seen a couple of cat and mouse thrillers but never one like this. Jack Casey is a serial killer. Charles Street is a detective. Beyond the investigation that has brought them together, they share a lot of things… including several murders.
Although some things might be a bit familiar in regards to the overall story arc, what makes Amongst the Killing unique is its dual first person approach and it’s deep dive into the psyche of both a detective AND a serial killer. On one side you see the thoughts, the strategy, the worry, the pain, and all the things that drive Detective Street to get his man. On the other side, you see the pathological arrogance of a serial killer, the cool calculatedness as well as the things that causes someone to snap. It’s fascinating to see such an in depth look to each character as if they’re writing a journal.
It’s not a fast pace for most of the book, instead taking its sweet time to truly understand the feeling of a moment, a breakthrough, or a failed plan. You get to see the mechanics of human behavior, which I really enjoyed. I think the only thing I would have liked that I didn’t get was a better sense of time in regards to where we are in a timeline. Possibly with news clippings that offer an “objective/impartial” perspective of where we’re at? Not sure. But sometimes I got a bit lost and had to go back to just locate where I was with either Chuck Street or Casey. Beyond that, I can’t say I’ve read a book like this and truly enjoyed the Jekyll and Hydeness of Casey as well as the struggles of Detective street.
It’s not every day we truly get to understand two sides of a story and go that in depth in the psyche of two people who are broken in different ways. Curious to see where the second book by Compton goes to, but no doubt it’ll be a deep dive showing the different colors and layers within whoever his victim is, for it almost feels as if he stalked these characters and could have done away with them at any moment. Curious feeling to have about an author and his work, but hey, this book brought up some very interesting feelings.
Amongst The Killing by Joe Compton
The first thing I want to touch on with this novel is the cover. At first glance you will see a graves and an open plot of land. Pulling back from that you will find that the images rest in two male silhouettes. I love that about the cover and how it displays important images to the main characters Detective Charles Street and Jack Casey.
The book pulls the reader in immediately from the start with a heart wrenching scene as Charles is given his worst nightmare. This catapults him into a dark abyss of pain and depression that he struggles with throughout the book. The raw emotions of this character were vivid and realistic. I felt myself hurting for him as I read. He discovered at some point what is important and his Captain and Partner fight tooth and nail to get him back on the straight and narrow.
Jack Casey was interesting. He began as a disgruntled man who finally snaps and kills. He throws his life away to continue the pursuit of that high that comes after the kill. In a daring feat he does something he never saw himself doing and catapults himself into Detective Street’s life.
The two maintain a dance and play a deadly game of cat and mouse. Bodies begin to stack up as Jack stays on the run obsessing over Detective Street.
The plot of this story was well thought out and easy to follow. The storyline seemed to flow effortlessly from start to finish. There wasn’t any difficulty distinguishing between character POVs with each chapter. There were a couple of errors in the story but nothing big that deterred from the story.
I was lucky to snag this book and order it. There were only a few copies left when I ordered it from Amazon. The author has it down for some updating. Having read the book, I’m curious to see what changes will be made to the manuscript. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and give it a 4/5 star rating.
https://www.thechaptergoddess.com/post/book-review-of-amongst-the-killing-by-joe-compton