The Park Trilogy, Books 1-3
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Narrated by:
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James Romick
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By:
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C. J. Booth
Summary
The Park Trilogy (Olive Park, Crimson Park, Angel Park)
1997.
In the dark woods of Olive Park, in the hills above Sacramento, a California Highway Patrol officer stumbles over a gnarled branch.
But it isn’t a branch.
It is an arm. Reaching up from a shallow grave.
And clutched in the small, desperate hand is a single quarter.
So begins one of the most exhaustive investigations in California history. Yet even with their massive resources, State and Federal authorities fail to find any trace of the killer. After two long years, the case goes cold.
15 years later.
The newly formed Ongoing Investigation Division charged with solving cold cases is unceremoniously handed its first case - The Olive Park Murders.
Detectives Stan Wyld and Jake Steiner, together with assistant Mallory Dimante, reopen the Olive Park case and find nothing new, until their examination of the original burial site turns up one chilling piece of evidence that proves Olive Park is no longer just a cold case.
The truth is much worse. The killer has never stopped and had already picked the next victim when Steiner, Wyld, and Dimante risk all to save the two intended victims, Michael and Jesse Cooper, two children who uncovered the deadly secret of Olive Park.
Following their spectacular success in solving California’s worst serial killer case, a case that had languished unsolved for 15 years, Sacramento’s newly formed cold-case division detectives - Stan Wyld and Jake Steiner with I.T. expert Mallory Dimante - find themselves the toast of the town. Anxious to move on from the rampant publicity, they take on a simple missing person case.
But their search for missing Hollywood film director James Marston pitches them headlong back into the malevolent world of serial killer Ruby Everheart - and into the lives of the killer’s last intended victims, 14 year old Michael and his younger sister Jessie Cooper – two kids who unknowingly possess a secret that will ensnare everyone in a deadly game of cat and mouse with an evil far worse than Ruby Everheart.
Detectives Stan Wyld, Jake Steiner and Mallory Dimante struggle to unravel the mystery of the murder and dismemberment of Hollywood film director James Marston but all they find are more mysteries....
Why has Anna Chase, an 11-year-old middle-schooler living in a small town in New Jersey, seemingly partnered with Ilsa Pokovich, a 50 year-old California felon, to commit murder?
Why has the original detective on the Olive Park case remained quiet all these years?
And why does the answer to everything seem to lie in a stuffed bear rescued from the burned-out trailer of serial killer Ruby Everheart?
What Wyld, Steiner and Dimante find propels them back into a treacherous and dark past. It shakes what they think they know about who they can trust and who they believe. And it forces them into a lethal showdown, protecting Michael and Jessie Cooper…and themselves, from Ruby Everheart’s terrifying teacher.
Angel Park crackles with insistent, heart-stomping energy as it plummets toward a conclusion that will exact a devastating human toll on one of the three detectives of Sacramento, California’s cold case division. It is Wyld, Steiner and Dimante’s ultimate test, for the depravity of serial killer Ruby Everheart pales against the evil they must now confront...and kill.
©2020 C.J. Booth (P)2020 C.J. BoothContinue the series
First in a trilogy that' certainly worth continuing with. The story following the 3 members of a newly formed cold case squad in Sacramento, 2 detectives Sam and Jake and a computer analyst Mallory. In reality most of the first book centres on Sam and Mallory as Jake is recovering from a broken leg. They are given the case of the bodies of 3 young children who were all found buried in a clearing in 'Olive Park'. For me the book was a little difficult to follow is it kept switching back and forth between the investigation and the story of 2 young children M and Jess who are now orphans as a result of their Father murdering their mother and of M the killing is dad to protect Jess. They are sent to live with the aunt (their dad's sister) who openly resents M and blames him for her brother's death. Whilst the non investigation storyline does resolve, it was not clear (certainly in the audio book) if the M & Jess storyline was pre the original killings so they were going to be victims, way earlier than the original killings and one or other was going to be the killers or contemporary with the investigation in which case they were going to be pivotal in the solution.
Besides this I found that the book moves at a good pace and the investigation is detailed enough so that it appears genuine and not just a 'fluke solution' but at the same time not filled with technical stuff that slows down the story.
Looking forward to the 2nd book in the series.
Crimson Park
I must admit that although I got the Park Trilogy as an Audible omnibus I wasn't expecting it to be in reality a single story, I was expecting it to be three stories featuring Stan, Jake and Malory from Sacramento's cold case squad (OID). Crimson Park starts not long after the three of them wrap up the Olive Park murders with the death of Ruby Everheart and they are looking forward to their next case. It arrives unexpectedly from the Captain who as a favour asks them to look into a missing persons case, that of James Marston Jr (a famous movie producer /director famous for slasher movies. Not surprisingly things don't go quite to plan. Marston's car is discovered in the police pound having been towed following a 'report' of it being abandoned (strange thing is their no record of the call reporting it be abandoned). Jake goes to take a look taking his new dog with him (humorously called Jake as well) and discovered a decapitated corpse in the car. Problems mount when forensics confirm that whilst the head is Marston's the body is someone else's, and this turns out to be a former police officer (previously in charge of Olive Park) and no PI hired by Malory to look for her brother. As the investigations continue red herrings abound and as the book comes to its conclusion more links are found to tie the current investigation into their old Olive Park case. The dramatic conclusion of the book has Stan and Jake (dog) being shot in the OID offices and Malory being forced to shoot and kill the attacker who turns out to be a convicted felon who was convicted of attempting to attack Marston with acid.
The story also has occasional looks into the struggle of Michael and Jessie Cooper as they try to live out their lives, come to terms with the trauma of Ruby Everheart whilst plotting to get to their relatives in Arizona.
This is a positioning book as it straddles Oliver Park and awaits conclusion in Angel Park, nothing is resolved in this book. We don't find out by who and why Marston was killed, we don't resolve the links to Olive Park and we still don't know why the Captain gave this case to OID. Hoping these all get answered in the trilogy's conclusion.
Angel Park
This book concludes the trilogy. The ending is sad and moving. For the most part I have thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy and look forward to reading other books by CJ Booth. In this story however I was getting a little frustrated with sub arc of Michael and Jessica. I know in their way they are pivotal to the story but it was getting a little boring with the constant drive to get to Arizona, all of the grifting that Michael is able to do despite only being 14 years old sometimes stetches believe too far. The plot moves along with a good pace, the body count continues to rise and Jake, Stan and Mallory struggle to make sense of many of the clues they find (like a 10 year old girls prints being found in Marston's car).
The series is a dark serial killer story that is certainly not for the faint hearted.
Dark Serial Killer
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Fantastic trilogy
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This is a superb read. The author statts strong and builds from there. Reaching a nail biting finish.
I heartily recommend this audiobook .
Absolutely 5 star.
Superb trilogy
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