Hour Game by David Baldacci (Sean and Michelle #2)

Hour Game by David Baldacci

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Jacket Blurb:  He's copying famous serial killers.
And the HOUR GAME has just begun...

A woman is found murdered in the woods. It seems like a simple case but it soon escalates into a terrible nightmare. Someone is replicating the killing styles of the most infamous murderers of all time. No one knows this criminal's motives...or who will die next.

Two ex-Secret Service agents, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, have been hired to defend a man's innocence in a burglary involving an aristocratic family. Then a series of secrets leads the partners right into the frantic hunt that is confounding even the FBI. Now King and Maxwell are playing the Hour Game, uncovering one horrifying revelation after another and putting their lives in danger. For the closer they get to the truth, the closer they get to the most shocking surprise of all.


Read as an audio book.

Premise of the book is Sean and Michelle are faced with two challenging mysteries. One is the serial killer who is methodically murdering people and noting the time on a watch and each victim represents another infamous serial killer. As the body count slowly grows and they closer to figuring out who's behind this, tempers begin to fray. The second mystery is who stole from Remi and Bobbly Battle's secret compartments, and where did the items go? Remi wants her things returned pronto, and has indicated she is willing to kill to get them back.

I have very mixed thoughts on this book. The two interwoven mysteries don't leave any room for guessing and supposition. You would think this would lend itself to a book that just flew by, but I confess, it was moments of excitement followed by tedium where I started to debate if I wanted to start skipping a bit. Which is a bit surprising given just how much was going on in this book.

And speaking of skipping, I've noted before *I'm* not a fan of knowing what the antagonist is doing. John Sandford is another author that does this and it's just not a technique I enjoy. I did start punching the fast forward button when "The Man" was plotting, planning, and killing. Not my cuppa tea.

The other plot devise I am not a fan of is the multiple endings - and this applies to books AND movies. One ending, thank you very much. I lost count of the endings in this one...granted, numerous plots to wrap up, but end it, don't drag things out.

I did think the FBI came across as egotistical and stuffy, and as seen through Sean's eyes, rather stupid. Which they are not, and I do get tired of law enforcement being portrayed as idiots in mystery books.

So, I enjoyed the book because I really like Sean and Michelle's characters. Even in book two, I'm still not getting any overt sexual tension of a future romance to come (even though I know what eventually happens because I did read book #5 first...). They work well together, their characters balance each other out, they fight and bicker, and they have unequivocally have each other's backs. I really like that balance and partnership. Very refreshing.

Ultimately, when everything was said and done and all threads were played it, it was a decent book. I'll read the next one.



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