Week 42 Review: Before Evil, A Perfect Evil

From Goodreads:

International bestseller Alex Kava delivers a stunning prequel to her critically acclaimed Maggie O'Dell series.

From her small Quantico office, Special Agent Maggie O'Dell has profiled serial killers using Poloraids, faxed copies and scraps of evidence provided by homicide detectives from across the country. She's gained a reputation for successfully profiling killers and solving crimes without ever stepping foot at a real crime scene.

Then comes Albert Stucky, and nothing will ever be the same.

Stucky is a sadistic madman who enjoys his twisted games as much as he enjoys the kill. Pieces of victims start showing up in takeout containers, strategically left for unsuspecting bystanders to find. Sometimes the body is dumped near by. Others are never found.

Maggie is tasked with profiling the murders. Despite all her skills and talents nothing has prepared for this. For the first time in her career she's seeing the gruesome crime scenes firsthand, because this madman has chosen the backwoods of Virginia as his killing grounds.

When Stucky discovers an attractive female FBI agent is part of the task force to stop him, he begins to taunt Maggie. He leaves notes and bits and pieces as if they were clues for a morbid scavenger hunt. Each step of the way he's daring Maggie to catch him if she can, all the while planning to make her his next prey.

Let the chase begin.

From Goodreads:

A killer is watching . . .

The brutal murders of three young boys paralyze the citizens of Platte City, Nebraska. What's worse is the grim realization that the man recently executed for the crimes was a copycat. When Sheriff Nick Morrelli is called to the scene of another grisly murder, it becomes clear that the real predator is still at large, waiting to kill again.

Morreli understands the urgency of the case terrorizing his community, but it's the experienced eye of FBI criminal profiler Maggie O'Dell that pinpoints the true nature of the evil behind the killings -- a revelation made all the more horrific when Morrelli's own nephew goes missing.

Maggie understands something else: the killer is enjoying himself, relishing his ability to stay one step ahead of her, making this case more personal by the hour. Because out there, watching, is a killer with a heart of pure and perfect evil. 

My Review:
I really enjoyed reading these stories! I enjoyed getting to know Maggie, and to watch her deal with these two investigations, and I excited to see where the series goes from here! These were really intriguing mysteries, and it was great to watch Maggie investigate them! 

Before Evil is an important investigation in Maggie's life, of how Stucky became such a huge presence in Maggie's life (which I'm excited to see, given that book 2 is going to deal with him having escaped!)  and how she first got put on the case, until the end when he went to jail. It was a pretty impactful part of her life!

A Perfect Evil, man, these crimes hurt. Kids aren't supposed to be murder victims, their children, they're innocent. And that was a big part of this book, espcailly given who the murderer is. I had to look up the dates, but it was published after the church scandal broke, so that was interesting. Though it wasn't my favourite mystery, the way things wrapped up! Though having read the synopsis's of the future books in the series, well, I know that there's going to be a chance for justice! 

The one thing was, that they didn't line up, that details from A Perfect Evil aren't what happened in Before Evil. And I know originally Before Evil was more of a short story, and was later expanded into a novella, and that it was published after A Perfect Evil, but I wish that they lined up together better.

I really enjoyed reading these books, and I can't wait to continue the series! 

Author: Alex Kava
Series: Maggie O'Dell #0.5, 1
Read: October 17th, 17th, 2021
Source: Ebook.bike, Bought
Reason Why: They sound really good! And they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2021 Books! And A Perfect Evil is a RR Book!
Publisher: Prairie Wind Publishing, Mira Books
Published: August 10th 2017, January 1st 2006

Before Evil:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

A Perfect Evil:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars