Book Review
Title: Taurus (Murders of the Zodiac #4)
Author: A. P. Morgan
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Rating: *****
Review: Taurus is the fourth book in the Murders of the Zodiac series and after waiting nearly a month for it I couldn’t wait to re-join Leslie and Ryan. We meet Leslie in the immediate aftermath of the Aries murders and the injured Leslie is brought home to recover while Ryan tries to keep his distance because of Jerome. We also get a perspective from the Zodiac master who sees Leslie and Ryan as his personal detectives especially Leslie and has no plans to harm either of them until his mission is complete in December and we are heading into mid-April.
When a woman becomes the only survivor from a boating accident that left others dead both Leslie and Ryan both spit the Taurus sign on the bottom of the boat and immediately rush back to work despite Leslie’s injury. By now we can see a lot of the murders are random and the M.O. changes depending on who is doing the killer but the Zodiac master has worked in an established pattern. We learn that this killer goes by Dana and she is much more open about her killings, not shying away from the media or public places. While Leslie has been cleared to return to work she can’t handle a weapon or chase down suspects so that it’s left to Ryan and the other FBI agents to do the heavy work.
As we cross the halfway mark in the novel, Dana has dropped two sets of bodies using the same M.O. but other than that she is silent and is very careful about the evidence she leaves behind, moving around and paying in cash to minimize the trial she is leaving. We soon get some history on Dana whose actual name is Dorothy who was taken in by Jim and his wife after a boating accident left their daughter Dana and Dorothy’s mother dead. Jim had his wife committed when she started called Dorothy by their daughter’s name and she has been there ever since. When Leslie and Ryan track down Jim’s wife to a mental institution she presents them with a letter from “Dana” daring them to find her before more bodies drop.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Leslie and Ryan are more determined than ever to catch the killer before it’s too late. When the next set of bodies drop we learn that there was a witness to the crime who managed to get the whole incident on camera and the team head back to Dallas since they know Dana isn’t going to hang around when the news airs revealing that she had been documented killing a group of men.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, Urban Energy is once again connected to the killings and Leslie is under the impression that the Zodiac master has some grudge against the company and plans to take the company down when his mission is complete. The revelation that Leslie is sensitive like Flora was interesting but they are heading to Hawaii where Dana has landed in Maui and they are trying to get to her before she claims more lives. In the end, they don’t get there in time only being moments late but we do see the Zodiac master preparing for the Gemini murders which may be committed by a set of twins. I love this series and can’t wait for the next installment however I did feel that this book needed to be 50 pages longer in order to get certain aspects more time to develop and have a bigger impact on the reader. I also found the breakup between Jerome and Leslie to be very believable as he has been seen to be quite clingy and disrespectful towards Leslie’s career and the fact Ryan was there for her does hint to a romance between them which I am eager to see.
Buy it here:
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Comments