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Still Life
Still Life
Author: Bruce Elliot
The line between artistic vision and insanity has been violently crossed. Mutilated bodies are being discovered almost daily-their gruesome remains meticulously arranged into grotesque shapes and forms. — Detective Amiel "Touch" Benson wants to stop him. To do so, he will have to work with the one person whom the artist confides in-radio psycholo...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780451409843
ISBN-10: 0451409841
Publication Date: 5/1/2001
Pages: 384
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 9

3.4 stars, based on 9 ratings
Publisher: Onyx Books
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Still Life on + 174 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is another book that I read in one sitting, staying up most of the night to finish it. The book moves along very swiftly and the end fooled me up to a certain point. The killer in this book uses his victims to pose them after he kills them to resemble famous paintings and other works of art. His method of getting to the public is through a talk radio host, who begins to fear she may be the next victim of this strange and crazed killer. A fairly original idea for the storyline, as far as I know. I enjoyed this book very much.
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reviewed Still Life on + 3094 more book reviews
Hard to know how to rate this book. Won't give it a 4 because it just wasn't that great, and maybe a 3 is giving it too much, however, it did stick with the story without wandering all over the place but "spoiler"--this is mostly a sex crime throughout, I've read worse with more gore and more sex but yet this one just didn't fall into a 'thriller', the suspense of the 'who' you will soon figure out and it won't come as a surprise.
Sleepy26177 avatar reviewed Still Life on + 218 more book reviews
When the famous The Dr. Teri Fields Show airs as usual everyone considered the last evenings call a huge prank announcing he's killed someone.
Very soon the listeners learn it was no prank at all.
A beautiful young girl has been found dead in her apartment. Her angelic features only disturbed through a fine cut through her throat, posing like an angel on her bed in clean sheets. Entering her bathroom detectives find a gruesome scenery of blood and stench. The victim has been drained of blood and was cleaned afterwards.

Detective Amiel ("Touch") Benson and his partner Amanda Blaine work the case and their first response is talking to the radio shows host Dr. Teri Fields who seems mighty disturbed by the last nights call and it's trueness.

The crimes scene otherwise seems clean except for some dust left by a drawing pen. The two detectives are clueless that they are in for a ride into the world of art and a disturbed killer artist meticulously working his scene.

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Our protagonists are very likeable and human. Amiel, nickmaned Touch, is married to Liz, who suffers from bipolar disorder. They are still married but separated. Touch can't let go of her but secretly desires his beautiful partner Amanda who carries a package of her own. She is married to a man she loves but doesn't fulfill her needs.
They work together, dream of each other but they don't touch each other.
They both are very human, especially Touch who cares for his wife who rewards him with sugar but mostly vinegar.
When Touch meets the hypnotizing Dr. Fields he fells for her hard enough to almost screw up the whole investigation, Amanda's and his own career.
Their flaws make you want to read and learn more of them. Especially how their life went after the book.

Still Life is the first book in what was thought to be a series but unfortunately there has only been a second book since 2002 named Death Rites.


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