Killjoy by Julie Garwood brings us a mixture of old and new characters, and takes us on a thrilling cat and mouse chase.

We are introduced to Avery, an FBI data analyst.  She's a wonderful character.  Funny, smart, and immensely likable.  Unfortunately, she had a rough start to life, with her mother abandoning her when she was first born, returning a few times over the years, always to cause Avery trouble.  Luckily, Avery was raised by her loving grandmother and Aunt Carrie. 

But now a killer named Monk (from Garwood's earlier novel, Mercy) is on the loose.  He's captured Carrie and two other women, holding them hostage in a house that's wired to a bomb.  Should any door or window open... Boom!

Avery, aided by John Paul (also from a previous novel), is on Monk's trail, trying to save Carrie and the other women before the bomb's timer hits 0.00.

What follows is a cat and mouse chase that takes Avery and John Paul from location to location, following clues that seem designed to cause them to fail.  But with clever insights into Monk's personality, the two heroes are able to second-guess Monk's moves.  The only problem is, Monk isn't working alone.

The story gets a bit convoluted.  Partly because we, the readers, are not always privy to everything that's happened, until later.  Meaning that a chapter will start with a particular scene that is completely unexplained.  We'll have no idea how the people got to that location, or why.  Of course, everything is always explained, later.  But this book requires a lot of "just going with it".  It was Garwood's way of keeping the mystery alive, even though we, the readers, know exactly who the bad guy is.  We even know the motives, and for the most part, we know who he's working with.  So, I can understand why Garwood would want to keep a few secrets from us, so that we can be surprised at least a few times along the way.  Still, it makes for some confusing reading.

I do have a complaint about the female characters in this book.  Other than Avery, whom I liked a lot, I hated all of the rest of them.  They were written like caricatures.  The women that Carrie are with are more worried about how they look, than about escaping.  They take time to clean the house, even knowing it's about to blow up.  They complain incessantly about their "inconvenience" being locked up, like this.  At one point, I thought to myself "Oh, just open the door already and end this!!"

And Carrie isn't much better.  Later, when she has an opportunity to really help the situation, she's far too busy throwing childlike temper tantrums to cooperate.

Luckily, Avery and John Paul were a joy, and did a lot to redeem this book.  They're funny, sweet, and for the most part, reasonable people. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book.  The story was captivating, and the ending was exciting.  Recommended.

Recommended: Yes