Jack Daniels is back, and she is glad that things around the office have quieted down. But they aren't calm for very long. A videotape of a woman's murder arrives at the office and the investigation begins.
Even with Konrath's excellent writing style and witty dialogue, Rusty Nail still disappoints compared to Whiskey Sour and Bloody Mary. It has the most gore out of the three, but the gore didn't seem to serve a purpose, as if it was thrown in to make up for a lack luster plot.
The plot was a little too recycled and predictable. Some events that happened in Rusty Nail already happened in the first two books, such as Mr. Whiskers attacking the killer, Jack calling Latham to get back together, and Jack having several near-death experiences and miraculously living through them. It is like an action movie where the protagonist gets shot at twenty times and is still alive to shoot the bad guy.
Honestly, my empathy for Jack is running low. She is much more whiny this time around. She complains that she is lonely yet pushes away the man she loves, and the worst part is she knows she has no one to blame but herself. At work, she constantly makes stupid decisions that put her life in danger, and rarely takes measures to protect herself before charging into seriously risky situations.
Jack endures much emotional and physical pain at the hands of the Kork family and yet when she is faced with death she feels nothing but apathy. That seemed out of character for her, but she is tired, and at some point the reader must ask - how much can she go through before she cracks? Who knows.
Fans of the first two books will appreciate Konrath's humour, such as Harry's wisecracks about lockjaw (a rusty nail/tetanus reference) and Jack's verbal hits to Harry's ego. So if you enjoyed Whiskey Sour and Bloody Mary, Rusty Nail is still an okay read, but let's hope Dirty Martini will be better, if only to see Jack prevail one more time.
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Rusty Nail by JA Konrath.
SNOWED IN by Rachel Hawthorne is about a 16-year old girl named Ashleigh Sneaux who moves from Texas to an island on the Great Lakes. Besides adjusting to the weather change, she lives in a bed and breakfast that needs renovating.