New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones delivers a gripping new thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end. A detective with a dark secret… Samantha Jazz used to be one of the top profilers in the Austin PD, living for the chase of hunting down a killer and bringing him to justice. That is, until one bad case nearly destroyed her. A killer with a … nearly destroyed her.
A killer with a hidden agenda…
There’s a new kind of serial killer on the loose–and people are turning up dead. The only clues to their murders lie in the riddles the killer leaves behind. A mystery with more questions than answers, and a suspicion that he’s taunting Samantha.
A dead body wrapped in a riddle…
Samantha will have to use all her wits to solve each new puzzle before the killer can strike again. But the closer she gets to the killer, the more she draws him to her as well. And in this thrilling game of cat and mouse–only one of them will survive.
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A chilling and thrilling ride!
I really liked the dark creepy vibe the book had. It really set the tone and mood for me. The beginning hooked my interest. I was ready for whatever came next! We meet Detective Samantha Jazz. Cool name! She’s got issues and demons she’s fighting. You’ll see what I mean when you start reading. I do want to mention that there are references to past events but there’s not a book prior to this one. It kind of threw me off because I felt like I missing some very important information. I really enjoyed the cat and mouse game between the killer and Detective Jazz. I was totally drawn to the killer. I found them fascinating and wanted to know more about them. Am I the only one? Haha
This story is entertaining and will have you on the edge of your seat! It doesn’t end like you expect and the last part of the book is one wild ride! I want more! This is a new to me author and I plan on checking out her other works. I give this 4 stars.
As you would expect from one of Lisa Renee Jones books the mystery and thrill of catching a serial killer on the loose. Sam Samatha Jazz a profiler/detective in Austin, TX, has been assigned to a case that the killer is stuffing poetry inside his victims mouths. Sam was brought when the former detective made a abrupt decision to transfer to Houston, TX right in the middle of the case for person reasons. The Captain felt Sam would be a good fit because she had a back ground in poetry and in college actually ran a poetry club.
As Jazz and her partner Lang start investigating case they discover Roberts the former detective on the case sudden departure looked suspicious because he made excellent headway on the case. In the file Roberts called the killer The Professor but as Jazz started looking into case she rename the killer The Poet. Jazz can feel the evil this serial killer provokes and feels his victims are unworthy and that is why he makes the kill. The Poet wanted Jazz on this case because he feels she is the only one that could be his mentor and he her master. As Jazz & Lang race to connect the dots to catch a killer they run into wall after brick wall. That is until the day that Sam finds the one clue who why her family and why The Poet connects to her on a personal level. Will Agent Samatha Jazz catch this killer before everyone she loves is killed, especially when the killer is right under her nose.
Edge of your seat, heart racing suspense!
Have you read the Lilah Love Series by Lisa Renee Jones? If you have you’re going to want to dive into this one as well. This series starts off with Detective Samantha Jazz being assigned a case to find a serial killer after the Detective that was on the case suddenly relocates to a different town. Sam has a special skill set that makes her perfect for this case, she knows her Poetry better than anyone else on the force.
There is a killer on the loose and he’s leaving a calling card, A poem inside of the victims mouth. What does it mean? Is there a connection between the victims? Who is the killer? And more importantly what does he want with Detective Jazz?
Normally I like my books steamy, actually the steamer the better but I have to say I didn’t miss it at all in this book. I was so engrossed in trying to figure out who The Poet was along with Detective Samantha Jazz that I didn’t want to put the book down, actually my kindle died on me which was the only way I was going to stop reading for the night.
I will admit that the prologue did help a bit with figuring out who the killer was but since we didn’t have a name to go on we could only put the clues together.
I really enjoyed this book and I hope to see more of Detective Jazz in the future.
If you enjoy Mystery Suspense Reads you’re going to want to grab this one.
Happy Reading!!!
I won’t recommend mediocre books. This was among the better ones, but still mediocre.
I liked this story for the most part. There were some thing s that left me perturbed, which I will not get into to avoid providing spoilers. Samantha Jazz has the potential to be an interesting, flawed and complex character. The author has yet to reveal the hopefully many layers of her character. I hope future books will be more detailed. The mystery itself was satisfactory though a bit predictable in execution. I would read another book from this series to see how Samantha evolves in her personal and professional life.
Great read!
Fans of the Inside Out series will be excited to see that Lisa Renee Jones is embarking on a new series. With The Poet, she introduces readers to Samantha Jazz in a police procedural that is deep on character but a bit slapdash with plot coherence. Jazz is a troubled young officer who has had enough drama of her own and is now tasked with chasing down a serial killer who seems to be obsessed with her. The culprit seems to know a thing or two about Jazz and her fondness for poetry, so his signature is leaving victims with quotes placed in their mouths for her to decipher. Jazz is fully developed with an intriguing backstory, complete with clear defensiveness and biases. Jones has her character experience the benefits and drawbacks to her heavy use of intuition and laser focus during an investigation. She also sprinkles in chapters narrated by the killer that provides some insight into his motivations. The book seems abruptly bifurcated with red herrings and implausible consequences. The debatable authority that Jazz is given due to her “expertise” in poetry and her irrational behavior during her pursuit of the Poet are unconvincing and require a good deal of acceptance from the reader. Many who follow these types of fictional accounts would be more savvy about how procedures are followed than the supposedly competent heroine. The Poet is a decent exploration of how human fallibility can lead us astray even when the stakes are highest. Experienced readers of the genre will experience some frustration with how the author requests a suspension of disbelief that may not be worth the effort.
Thanks to the author Entangled/Amara and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
Where is my movie? This edge of your seat thriller is one that I need a movie to ASAP! If you love things like Law and Order or Chicago PD then this one is going to knock your socks off because it was just that good. I am so glad that this is a series because I need more.
The Poet is the latest dark mystery thriller from Lisa Renee Jones. This author has woven an intricate, fast paced plot that will have you jumping at shadows along side intrepid detective Samantha Jazz as she leads her team on the hunt for the eponymous serial killer of the title. All in all a brilliant tale of mystery, suspense and crime with just the right amount of romance thrown in to add some depth to the heroine without detracting from the plot. Hopefully The Poet is only the start of a new series
I don’t know where to start to properly express my love for Samantha Jazz and her ability to solve the most difficult of puzzles.
In fact I’m a bit worried at the way Lisa Renee Jones’ mind needs to work to so effectively come up with a story so full of suspense that it keeps the reader fully invested as this mystery and its resolution unfolds.
I can’t wait to see what Detective/Agent Samantha Jazz is tasked with solving in what I hope is a long and lucrative crime fighting career.
For any lovers of crime, suspense or thrillers, Samantha Jazz is the investigator you want to read!
Lisa wrote a thriller and I was HERE FOR IT.
This book is nutlike her normal romance novels in the fact that it is quite literally a thriller, but it has Lisa’s signature style and you find yourself completely devoted to the read page after page.
This was like watching a crime TV show and hunting down the killer and yelling at the TV while you watch because YOU figured it out. I loved Samantha Jazz and the book had a fantastic plot. This is the perfect read for the crime podcast lover in all of us.
Favorite Quotes:
Propped against my headboard, snuggled under my down comforter, the air cranked a little too cold, I read while eating a healthy serving of chocolate. I’ve often wondered if serial killers eat chocolate, with the same conclusion. They do not, and perhaps that’s their problem.
Please don’t judge. That’s what God made my mother for.
Lang had followed him on a grocery run for milk and toilet paper, to which Lang had joked, “We’re so close, he’s shitting himself.” He’s classy like that and I love him for it.
The profiler is Judy Garland. For real. Her parents loved the movie star Judy Garland and named their daughter Judy. No wonder she chose to spend her days hunting killers. She needed to be bigger than the name.
Wade and I are in his fancy black pickup truck, the Texas version of a Mercedes…
“… she works downtown for some senator at the capitol building.” “But she was best friends with a call girl,” Lang says. “Interesting. What better place to get horny men with no morals than in politics?” I snort. “Truth.”
My Review:
This was exceptionally well-plotted and intriguing, I thought I had it solved but was so very, very wrong. Lisa Renee Jones is quite the storyteller. Her plot and storylines were smooth and full of red herrings and Easter eggs as well as being well-crafted and intricately nuanced. Her characters were complicated, compelling, and an odd assortment of potential suspects. No one was above reproach, but then again, I am a die-hard cynic. I am enamored with this crew and hope I’m paying attention when subsequent installments are released. I am hooked and want more of Ms. Jazz.
Highly entertaining, emotionally thrilling roller-coaster filled with dangerous and intriguing charters, heart racing twists, unexpected turns and non stop action. An edge of your seat exciting journey from beginning to end and so hard to put down.
This is an intense thriller with a complex main character. Samantha is a fantastic detective who is great at intuiting the clues to what really happened and to the mind of the murderer. I wish that we were given more information about her — I thought that she was pretty one dimensional and all we were really told about were her exploits in the police department. That said, she came across as a real Bad Ass cop. I thought that the ending was a bit abrupt but I don’t want to say much more about it at the chance of spoiling it for others. I know I would have liked a little more build up to the ending.
Overall, this is an intense thriller/police procedural that will keep the reader guessing. I’m glad to see that it’s the first book of a new series and I’m looking forward to learning more about Samantha Jazz.
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
A word of warning: Don’t finish this book at bedtime because it will be hard to fall asleep!
I say that because once you figure out who “done it” and Sam’s predicament, your heart will pound and your legs will want to run for her. I know because this happened to me. This would make a great movie but I couldn’t watch what gave me chills while reading it. I tried to keep up with the ages because I felt the prologue set the killer on his path. Thrilling, scary, murder mystery for a young detective who is finding her way after the death of her father. There is also the wee facet of her ability to sense evil. Nice touch!
We first meet “the Professor” at a poem reading. He appears to be normal but darkness lurks behind those eyes. Once he sets his sights on the person who “offends” him, we know what happens next. Circumstances cause our H, Detective Samantha Jazz to be called in to the newest case of what appears to be a serial killer whom she dubs The Poet. But it gets worse. Not saying any more about that! This book will have you on pins-and-needles and there will be twists and turns…
While the serial killer is doing his deeds, Sam is coming to grips with her precarious position because of her father’s transgressions. Fortunately, she has Wade in her life but does she accept his love and she has Lang by her side but will she accept his help? I volunteered to review an ARC of this book through NetGalley and Entangled. If you like well-written thrillers with intelligent plotting, read this book. You will not be sorry.
This started out as a slow read for me but I knew it would pick up. I was not disappointed when it did! When Detective Samantha Jazz gets the lead for the poet murder she has questions. Questions that are disturbing from the beginning.
When her and her partner are investigating it seems that the murderer is actually focusing on Samantha. Will she figure out who it is before it’s too late for her?
I liked the twists and turns that were happening and kept me guessing.
I loved it! I usually read romance by this author so this was a refreshing break
Definitely a ” who done it” detective sleuth.
Det. Samantha Jazz, she has some big shoes to fill. Feeling like she has to live up to
Her dads name, she takes on a very curious murder case.
Called “The Poet:”, due to the little snips
Of poetry he leaves with his victim and Jazz is a poet expert. Her and her team which I loved Ethan! takes you on the detailed
process of finding the murderer. Although its not a “Silence of The Lamb” lol story,
A little slow at times but definitely has some thrilling and gripping parts. I’m giving 4 stars cuz It would have been
Nice to know the characters a little more and my evil part would have liked to see Ethan & Wade duke it out over Sam!
The Poet by Lisa Renee Jones .. four stars
The Poet as he is called is a villain who leaves a clue written on a note stuffed in his victims mouth…
Detective Samantha Jazz is assigned the case ….
It was interesting to see how she and her partner Ethan Langford worked the case , how they came to their conclusion… but was it correct ?
On the note was a few lines from a poem , luckily enough Detective Sam Jazz is and has been a lover of poetry .
As they try to decipher the case many other things come into play along the way.
This is an interesting read with a good plot added with very strong characters.
This was a good story. I was invested. Poet was a page turner, and suspenseful. Their were a few twist. Although to me it was pretty easy to figure out who the killer was. Still a good read.
Lisa Renee Jones wrote exactly what I was looking for. An amazing thriller that pulled me in, kept me reading, and turning pages. I had so many clues to follow and I followed them exactly where Lisa Renee Jones wanted me to go. I guessed at who The Poet could be, I had hopes that I was right, and even more hope that I was wrong.
Detective Samantha Jazz has skills. She does not sit back and let The Poet come to her, she goes right at The Poet. She takes it one clue at a time, one suspect at a time, and does her job. She focuses when she needs to and looks beyond what is right in front of her when she realizes she may not be quite right. She fights for the good guys, invests in her cases, and comes out on top.
The Poet is one of the best thrillers I have read in a very long time. It may be early in 2021 but I will guess that it will be on my favorites of 2021 list.