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James Andrus
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The Perfect Woman (Detective John Stallings Book 1) Kindle Edition

by James Andrus (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 146 ratings
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"ONE OF THE BEST COP NOVELS TO COME ALONG IN YEARS." --Jeffery Deaver

Pharmacy clerk William Dremmel is hooked—on drugging pretty young women and lulling them into slow, blissfully quiet deaths. Then he packs his victims in luggage—a nod to the cops that he works alone. Dremmel's no fool, he's also a college professor. He just likes using his intellect for darker purposes. . ..

"AN INSIDER'S VIEW OF HOW A TRUE POLICE INVESTIGATION UNFOLDS. IT'S AS CLOSE A LOOK AT POLICE WORK AS YOU CAN GET." –Elmore Leonard

Haunted by his own daughter's unsolved disappearance, Detective John Stallings is committed to finding runaways and busting their abductors. When a series of girls is found dead and stuffed into duffle bags, he's consumed with capturing "The Bagman"—at the risk of his marriage, his career, and possibly his tough-as-nails partner, Patty Levine. . .

"A FASCINATING AND FRIGHTENING THRILLER. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!" –Kevin O'Brien

As The Bagman grows more brazen in his crimes, the clues line up. But when he draws terrifyingly close to Patty, Stallings is determined to play by his own rules—and they won't be pretty—or quiet. . .

"A PERFECT THRILLER FOR HOLLYWOOD TO GRAB." –Joseph Wambaugh
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  1. Book 1 of 4
    Detective John Stallings
  2. Print length
    385 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Pinnacle Books
  6. Publication date
    March 12, 2010
  7. File size
    805 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0031W1EJU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pinnacle Books; 1st edition (March 12, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 12, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 805 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 385 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 146 ratings

About the author

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James Andrus

James Andrus

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As a law-enforcement officer I often read police novels and notice more what's missing than what's on the page. When I started writing this series featuring Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Detective John Stallings ,it was my hope to show police officers as more than just robots that enforce the law. No, you can't go on the job without thinking about your family just like you can't go home without bringing a little bit of the job with you, no matter how hard you try. John stallings is like a detective I know; Honest, ethical and clueless when it comes to relationships.

The investigation of a potential serial killer is an entirely different dynamic than a standard homicide. Not only is there the drive to solve a murder but the pressure to prevent another. The confluence of administration, media, investigation and family can create a pressure cooker few cops can survive. Someone always loses. Sometimes it's the neglected child, sometimes it's the investigation and sometimes it's the spouse who sits at home and wonders why this particular investigation appears to be more important than home life.

As a career law enforcement officer, I rarely watch TV crime shows. This is not an indictment of how well written or acted they may be, but more an odd feeling of how different my life is from the cops on TV. That's why I am so gratified when I get an e-mail from a reader who is a real life cop and gets what I'm trying to say in these series of books.

The next book in the series is due for release in the Fall of 2011. It will follow the investigation of a killer as well as clues to Stallings' missing daughter which emerge during the case.

Thank you for taking the time to check out the books in this short commentary. For more information please visit www.James Andrus books.com. I really appreciate the fan e-mail I've received and make every effort to answer it personally.

Best,

James Andrus

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
146 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

LSmith
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific book!
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2012
Verified Purchase
A Perfect Woman is a story of the hunt for a serial killer who uses young petite women as "subjects"in his experiments of finding the perfect mix of prescription drigs to keep them lucid but not fully functioning. If a subject doesn't make it through a trial she is stuffed into a suitcase after dying. The title is derived when the killer believes he has found the "perfect woman" for his experiments.

Enter detective John Stallings who is fighting his demons from when his older daughter disappeared. He throws himself completely into this case along with his partner Patty Levin and the lieutenant Tony Mazzerili. With many turns along the way during the investigation, what makes this book a winner is the way the reader is living through Stallings' demons for not only his daughter but also for his wife who is battling addiction. Then when Patty is targeted as one of the killer's subjects, you also learn a lot about Tony. All these character revelations (Patty also has issues told to the reader) is what sets this story apart from other serial killer stories. The reader learns a lot more about the "good guys" than the killer. That makes this book a great read for me and I plan to read more in this series about Detective Stallings.
One person found this helpful
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L. Johnson
4.0 out of 5 stars Good one!
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2011
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I enjoyed this book a lot. I usually don't read this kind of book but occasionally like to go outside my preferred genres. I like what seemed to be the accuracy of the writing about police procedures. Just as I cringe at medical books that aren't accurate, I'm sure law enforcement people cringe at crime books that seem to be based loosely on reality. This book seemed very accurate to me, although the closest I have come to law enforcement was when they backed me up on EMS calls years ago.

I liked the main characters but felt there could have been more developement of the main lead. Not sure how that would be done, since I don't write, but I felt he floundered a few times here and there. I wasn't pleased with his wife at all, and maybe that's why I felt he waffled a bit. He seemed to accept that the deterioration of his marriage and family was the direct result of his failures alone. But his wife was just as much to blame, if not more, and he never seemed to get angry at her failures and always accepted her heaping more blame on his head. She was as withdrawan and absent emotionally to her children as he was, although his reason was work and hers was to drug abuse. And her emotional absence continues while he's tried to change. So who is more at fault, and why is he the only guilty one here!?

But over all, I enjoyed the book so much, I used the Amazon Kindle option and "loaned" it to my sister-in-law, and purchased the second book in the series. I hope there's a third book soon as I'm looking forward to it.
2 people found this helpful
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Shantae Rivers
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book! Very surprised!
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2011
Verified Purchase
I picked this book for my Android Kindle app because it got a 5 star review. I was in the mood to read books with only 5 star reviews. Even with the 5 star review, I held my breath and took the reviews with a grain of salt. I expected it not to be that great but it was. This guy is awesome. I spent all night reading it and even though I didn't want to go to bed, I knew I had to and forced myself to go to bed and wait until the next day to read the book. Woke up and finished the book. He had the right amount of detail, he wrote enough to leave you excited and wanting some more. The plot was on point. The characters were on point. He was just all the way on point. The story had me going from beginning to end. Not sure if this is his first book or not, but I sure as hope it isn't his last. He has made a fan out of me. James Patterson and John Grisham use to write this well but they've slacked off. I hope he continues to write this well and doesn't slack off like they have. He is definitely talented! It was a great read from beginning to end!
Excellent book!
9 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding first read!
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2011
Verified Purchase
I just got my Kindle for Christmas and am checking out various books. I picked this book based on the other reviews and I was not disappointed. I really liked the characters and felt Mr. Andrus had a good grasp on each of them. In the beginning Tony was so stuck on himself I wished I could smack him. To me that's the mark of a good book when it makes you feel things. I thought the way this particular serial killer was written was a new twist on an old method. The police procedures, tracking the killer and other items seemed pretty true to form. I know it's fiction and doesn't have to perfectly mirror reality but it still needs to be somewhat believable and this was. I am happy to see a second book and I think I will be buying it next. I would have given five stars except that I felt it started to drag on. I was ready to get to the ending climax and there was just a bit too much back story for me.
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BBC Addict
3.0 out of 5 stars Liked the main character, story needs work
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2011
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I generally like police procedurals and this one was ok. Liked the John Stallings character, and loved that the author made the Tony character much more than just the obnoxious jerk he first appeared to be. Making Tony a one dimensional, typical big-headed cop would have been the easy way out but author didn't take it.

My main problem with the story was that the killer's character fell kind of flat. There were vague references to what made him the way he is, but there wasn't enough backstory to make it convincing. The killer struck me as more pathetic (and not in a sympathetic way) and boring than scary and twisted. I like my killers scary and twisted!

The author generally did a good job with the cop characters; the bad guys need some work.

Ok book, and I would be interested in reading another book featuring this group of cops.
7 people found this helpful
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Jwb52z
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and engrossing!
Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2017
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed this book. I was able to get it for free almost 7 years ago exactly, back in a time when Amazon had much more freedom to offer books for free than they do now before all the publisher lawsuits and scandals. If you like thrillers or police procedurals or books on serial killers, I think you should give this one a shot because I don't think you'll be disappointed. The characters are really lifelike and interesting. I like that this book doesn't have any wild or confusing plot points, meaning nothing that will give you a headache trying to solve them and nothing that makes no sense. I will definitely read the rest of the series at some point, I think, but it won't be right away. Have at it!
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