Serial K Returns by Brian Gallagher

Serial K returns is the second in a series but can be read as a standalone novel.

Craig Breedlove is back and this time he has his sights set on those who have been abused by priests, as he was during his childhood. His Ripper days are behind him, but he still has the urge to end lives as he sees fit.  Agents O’ Callaghan and Lucci are back together again but are meant to be taking it easy in a semi-retirement. Lucci has the unfortunate luck of landing in a situation with the Mexican cartel and her actions launch a retaliation vendetta. Fortunately, her neighbours pack a lot of heat and are quite willing to help out. Breedlove’s plans collide with theirs when he forms a group of people willing to take matters into their own hands and deal out their own brand of justice to the priests. As the pair comes closer to finding Breedlove, he finds a way to change his plan and now has his sights set on Lucci. With both parties willing to go all the way, who will be the victor?

The story brings up an interesting moral dilemma where the reader feels empathy for the abused, and as the killings start are almost rooting for them to get away with it due to the fact that the priests feel no remorse. With the killings there is quite a bit of violence and descriptions of gore etc, but nothing too over the top. With the focus on the story of a serial killer and law enforcement that are out to get him, I found it quite strange that the author concentrated so much on what the characters ate and drank. The extra info on the arms and ammo as well as the boats was still in the understandable range, but the amounts of bottles of wine and their labels as what was eaten in restaurants were unnecessary. There were some editing mistakes, but nothing that detracted from the story.

I enjoyed the pace and writing of the story and found it very interesting being in the conflicted mind of this serial killer. The ending is quite interesting as a couple of things can be read into it and it’s up to the reader (or book 3) to decide how they believe it ended.

A quick but “enjoyable” read.