The third in the series, Rusty Nail is a bad rehash of the first--and thoroughly gorey. Jack's life is so pathetic, but in stead of feeling sorry for her, I wish she would put herself out of my misery. The target of a serial killer, she puts herself in constant danger, ignores direct orders and includes civilians in her investgations. What kind of cop is this? and she made lieutenant, no less. Not worth the time to skim it.

It is very refreshing to have a female heroine who is independent, flawed, fun, funny, and over 30. (While I love the Stepanie Plums of the fiction world, it is nice to know there is life after 40 (especially as someone nearing that age :-()

Great plots. Great twists. Great characters. Funny without being lame. Two thumbs up!

If you enjoy Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar Character, Janet Evonovich's Stepanie Plum, Or David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter... You will enjoy this series.

Rusty Nail is one of the greatest books I have ever read. J.A. Konrath is spectactular this is a book you will not be able to put down. I normally take awhile to get through books. I have gotten through Whisky Sour, Bloody Mary, and Rusty nail all 3 books under 2 weeks. They keep you going there is always something happening. I promise you will not be disappointed with Konrath's books. They are a combination of Mystery/Thriller/ and graphic horror. *****'s to J.A. fantastic keep up the good work.

Just wanted to write and say thank you to Mr Konrath for entertaining me for the last few years. Jack Daniels is one of the freshest characters to hit print in a long time. Until Whiskey Sour, in order to get mystery in the same package as humor, you had to settle for Evanovich. Don't get me wrong -- I still love Evanovich when I'm in the mood for some brain candy, but it is a bit unfulfilling.

Jack brings me the suspense and terror of Thomas Harris with the intelligent, twisted humor of the Farrelly Brothers. On top of it all, being an ex-Chicagoan, I get to visit home with Jack. Also in favor of the books, my wife, the lifelong South Side Chicagoan, actually got physically ill during one of the scenes in Rusty Nail. Now THAT is good entertainment.

If you haven't already done it, do yourself a favor and buy all of Konrath's work. You won't be disappointed . . . unless, of course, you are a no-humor stiff. Even then, at least Konrath will have a bit more money to go towards entertaining me.

I am loving this whole series. I can't wait for the next one to come out.

Best mystery series around. Funny and clever. Konrath writes circles around any author I have read.

Unless you enjoy being sickened by depraved people committing almost continuous torture, psychosocial abuse, physical and mental cruelty, skip this work. No story graces the pages of this novel, merely a litany of tortures that make me hope to God I never meet this author--not even in a crowded room, let alone a dark street. Although it's rare for me to stop reading, I abandoned this book about 2/3 of the way through when I realized there was no point to all the abuse, only a self-indulgent delight in horrifying the reader. I gave it up a a bad job and only hope I can spare someone else the grossness. It was my first book by J.A.Konrath and obviously it will be my last. Find a better way to spend your time than with this book.

this is my first jack daniels book and i liked it except for the violence, cruelty and gore.....to get through it i would just skip those parts....it was the only way to go on......i am not sure if i want to read another one of these books or not becuz of this.....the rest of the story was well done.....parts of it were funny......there was lots of action and a variety of subplots that all tied in at the end....

Although I wasn't thrilled with the first two of the series, WHISKEY SOUR and BLOODY MARY, they were okay, and I thought Konrath just hadn't hit his stride. However, after RUSTY NAIL I can't wait any longer. I don't know if the torture and mutilation were more extreme in this book than the first two or if there was a cumulative effect. Whatever it is, I've had enough.

I don't really care what happens to Jack Daniels, her partner, her mother, or her boyfriend. I do like Mr. Friskers, the cat, but even he is a caricature. Phin is the only slightly interesting character, but Konrath says he isn't in the next book. Her partner, Herb, is the requisite fat cap. Her boyfriend Latham is plain goofy. Her ex-partner, Harry, is sometimes funny, but now that he is mutilated, I don't think I'll be able to laugh at him anymore. If Jack were better at her job and followed the rules, her friends might not die so often. Her life sucks so bad that I don't know why she hasn't already eaten her .38 Colt.

There was no real mystery in this book because the killer was evident from the prologue. Always referring to "Alex" and never using a pronoun makes the sex of the killer pretty obvious. I hoped there would be a twist and I would be wrong, but no such luck. I'm really tired of the Gingerbread Man, but his story keeps coming back. If fact, I'm tired of this series, but I'm not coming back.

While not top literature, I did enjoy his first two books and thought he was improving as a story teller. This third book was not as good as the others and I had looked forward to each book getting better. I knew who the bad "guy" was from the get go -- so there was no suspense but the humor was good. You can tell when a man is writting a book about a central woman character because they will get something wrong. Nobody really cares what brand clothes she is wearing and she wouldn't focus that much on them as a woman cop. I will try his next book and hope that the plot and humor are more balanced with suspense.

Bravo!

RUSTY NAIL is the coming-of-age book for JA Konrath.

It's clear, to me anyway, that this book is evidence that Joe's hit his stride as a novelist and storyteller. It's also clear that Joe knows these characters better than he's ever known them.

This book is darker, more twisted... with a depth that didn't exist in WHISKEY SOUR and just scratched the surface of in BLOODY MARY.

I can't wait to read DIRTY MARTINI, coming in July 2007.

"Rusty Nail" and its companions, "Whiskey Sour" and "Bloody Mary" give readers a salty dog of a heroine. For three intensive reads, Joe Konrath takes every cliche character booked in a station house and breaths life into them. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels and her entourage are a fresh perspective on the suspense/thriller genre without illiciting contempt.
Anticipation for "Dirty Martini" is rampant, but please, no more resurrections of the Gingerbread Man. It's not the time for Lt. Daniels to stagnate; she is too important as an alter ego.
Nash Black, author of "Qualifying Laps" and "Taxes, Stumbling Blocks & Pitfalls for Authors, 2007."

"Rusty Nail" and its companions, "Whiskey Sour" and "Bloody Mary" give readers a salty dog of a heroine. For three intensive reads, Joe Konrath takes every cliche character booked in a station house and breaths life into them. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels and her entourage are a fresh perspective on the suspense/thriller genre without illiciting contempt.
Anticipation for "Dirty Martini" is rampant, but please, no more resurrections of the Gingerbread Man. It's not the time for Lt. Daniels to stagnate; she is too important as an alter ego.
Nash Black, author of "Qualifying Laps."

J.A. Konrath needs to trust his writing more and not feel that he needs to always have a horrific crime playing counterpoint to his storyline. His characters are well fleshed-out and we like and enjoy them. The crime story and characters are so over the top I just began to skim them, boring.
It is dissapointing to see such good talent wasted.

J.A. Konrath needs to trust his writing more and not feel that he needs to always have a horrific crime playing counterpoint to his storyline. His characters are well fleshed-out and we like and enjoy them. The crime story and characters are so over the top I just began to skim them, boring.
It is dissapointing to see such good talent wasted.

I really liked the first book in this series. I read all 3 Jack Daniels books. I like the action, Chicago, but this one was a little too much for me.

I started reading this author recently, starting with his first, and am now early into his third. I, as a devotee of mysteries, have read extensively and widely, books by many and varied authors. Mr. Konrath does write well and the chapters with his character Lt. Daniels, can be very humorous. But why, why, why do all of Mr. Konrath's killers target his character? Do all serials target the investigating detectives? Do any of them target the detectives? I can see it happening once, but three times? As a reader, I find this a flaw and it disrupts my concentration of the plot. The female (in this case) detective is constantly in jeopardy. She does break the sterotype by getting herself out of the jams, but it gets old, fast. This plot device takes precedence over procedure and detecting.

The friends of and people know to Chicago Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels are being targeted for torture and murder by someone connected by the convicted "Gingerman" serial killer.

I really did enjoy Konrath's first two books. But this one left me with a hangover. I love the characters of Jack and her partner Herb, and the humor in the writing. I did get tired of constant description of every item of clothing Jack was wearing and the label attached thereto. I don't even mind dark and gruesome as long as there's a real purpose to it. But this felt, to me, as though the author couldn't think of an original plot so he merely picked up on a theme and had a joyous time describing as many ways possible that one human being can torture themselves or another. It is a quick read, it does have humor, it is absolutely not for those who don't like graphic violence. I think it's time for me to go on the wagon where Konrath is concerned.