The 7th Victim
by Alan Jacobson
List Price: $25.95
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781593154943
Publisher: Vanguard Press
The Dead Eyes killer lurks in the backyard of the FBI’s famed Behavioral Analysis Unit. His brutal murders, unlike any others previously encountered, confound the local task force, despite the gifted skills of Special Agent Karen Vail, the first female ever promoted to the profiling unit. But along with her keen insight, she brings considerable personal and professional baggage --- both of which threaten to derail their investigation.
As the Dead Eyes killer grows bolder by the unit’s inability to stop him, Vail discovers that The 7th Victim holds the key to all that stirs this killer…the key that will unlock secrets too painful for Vail to bear. Secrets that threaten to destroy her, that could bring down her storied and promising career. For Karen Vail, the truth rests at the heart of a lie. And uncovering it might just get her killed…
Meticulously researched during seven years of study with the FBI’s legendary profiling unit, Alan Jacobson brings dramatic realism and unprecedented accuracy to his pages as he takes readers behind the scenes of the FBI Academy.
The 7th Victim is a terrifying and memorable work of psychological suspense, with rich, believable characters and a chilling, intricate plot that will keep you guessing until the end.
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1. Based on what you learned about behavioral analysis (profiling), do you feel it is a valuable law enforcement tool for helping to catch serial offenders?
2. Were you emotionally engaged in the characters --- did you care what happened to Vail? To Jonathan? To Robby and Bledsoe?
3. What was your favorite scene?
4. Describe your feelings about the scene in which Vail confronts her biological mother, Senator Eleanor Linwood, about her past.
5. Is Vail's reaction appropriate and reasonable when she discovers her gun is missing after leaving Deacon's house? What about when Vail goes to Deacon's to pick up Jonathan's book?
6. Did you like Karen Vail as a character, and would you like to read another novel featuring Karen Vail?
7. Why do you think the author chose to make Karen Vail a victim of abuse?
8. What did that tell us about her character in terms of how she deals with other events that happen in the story?
9. Did the killer's diary entries, written in the first person, put you closer to him?
10. The film rights to The 7th Victim have been optioned by a major Hollywood producer. What actors/actresses would you cast for the main characters in the movie --- Vail; Robby; Bledsoe?
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"Karen Vail is as compelling a character as any created by Patricia Cornwell, or yours truly. The 7th Victim is packed with neat surprises."
— James Patterson, New York Times bestselling author of Double Cross
"Alan Jacobson is a hell of a writer, and his lead character, Karen Vail, is a hell of a lady: tough, smart, funny, and very believable. The 7th Victim is an impressively researched novel about serial murder packed into a tightly twisting plot. Very scary, and very good. This reads like a Nelson DeMille book. And I should know."
— Nelson DeMille, New York Times bestselling author of Wild Fire
"I've always been a fan of Alan Jacobson's thrillers, but his latest novel, The 7th Victim, is a quantum leap in terror and suspense. Tautly written and brilliantly executed, here is a masterpiece of horror and murder. Read it with the doors locked and the lights blazing."
— James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of The Judas Strain
"In the fictional world of criminal profilers, Karen Vail is a knockout, tough and brilliant. In The 7th Victim she truly meets her match, and the twists and turns will astonish you."
— Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Garden
