Three Strikes - Kate Kessler

Three Strikes by Kate Kessler is one of my rare DNF's. I tried numerous times to get into the book, but just couldn't. Why, you ask?

I was initially intrigued by the description of the book - "Three Strikes is the new novel in a thriller series where a criminal psychologist uses her own dark past to help law enforcement catch dangerous killers." Sounds like a great premise.

What I should have noted was that this was the third book in a series. Now, some authors make it easy to jump into their series. Some back story is provided, but often you can read them as a stand alone. Not in this case. So much has happened in the first two books and I felt overwhelmed and out of step for as far as I did get. Murder, rape, incest, serial killers, terminal illness, a messed up small town and some very dysfunctional relationships. A psychologist who has committed murder.  It started to feel like a dark daytime soap opera put to the printed page - aiming for titillation.

But, where I finally lost hope of continuing was in the character count. Oh yes, I started making my own player's list to keep track of who was who, as there are many (many) players introduced in the first few chapters. But, when my list hit 23 just past page 37, I threw in the towel. Too many, too much.

This may be the case of a book in the hands of the wrong reader, as there are many who have really enjoyed this book. I point you to the positive reviews on Goodreads.