The 7th Victim

Written by Alan Jacobson

Narrated by Lila Wellesley

A brutal serial killer known as “Dead Eyes” is lurking in the backyard of the famed Virginia FBI Profiling Unit. Despite the gifted profiling skills of Special Agent Karen Vail, the psychopath is always one step ahead with uncanny knowledge of the FBI's detailed strategy of pursuit. Threatening to derail the investigation and her career is Vail's contentious divorce from an abusive husband and an ugly custody battle. As Vail fights to find the killer before he murders more young women, she must battle forces determined to bring her down.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Phoenix Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781607473787

Alan Jacobson

Alan Jacobson is the national bestselling author of the critically acclaimed FBI profiler Karen Vail and OPSIG Team Black series. Jacobson’s years of extensive research and training while embedded with federal and local law enforcement agencies have influenced him both personally and professionally, and have helped shape the stories he tells and the diverse characters that populate his novels.

Reviews for The 7th Victim

[Nancy Vieth · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book and narrator. Twists and turns you never see coming!

[Sara Romao · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I rarely write reviews and I unintentionally read the series in reverse order but I have to say that I found this book to be the best I have listened to in a long while.

[kazevedo_53 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

So poorly written and so many illogical moments that I could only stand about 100 pages.

[aliceap-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The 7th Victim by Alan Jacobson started off feeling a bit like an episode of Criminal Minds as the main character is an FBI profiler who works for the BAU. However, as the story continued I started to realize that this woman was in no way capable of being a member of such a prestigious group. Her credibility is basically nil as she rants and raves at the office while dealing with a lot of drama in her personal life. To say the drama was overdone would be to put it mildly. (There isn't an area of her life where she isn't faltering in some way and the obvious course of action to fix said problem never seems to occur to her.) Our main character, Karen Vail, has been trying to find the Dead Eyes Killer for several weeks with virtually no leads. The killer's signature is gruesome and the bodies keep piling up but she's too wrapped up in her own life to really spend a lot of time working the case efficiently. (And then it's further complicated by her relationship with the members of her task force.) I don't want to spoil the ending but it was so ridiculous that it really sealed the lid on the coffin for me. I didn't like the main character, I didn't like the plot, and the killer reveal was dumb. 0/10 do not recommendAdding insult to injury, this is the first in a series. That's a no for me.

[nsjlh_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I chose to read this book as it was selected from my Kindle Shelf Post. While I had been told by others to read this book and series, I had never actually committed myself until now.I enjoyed this book for the most part. While I enjoy mystery thrillers and have read several similar books in the past, this book just didn’t pull me quickly through it. I’m not sure why. It was a fairly slow and heavy read.I enjoyed the main character Karen Vail. As a profiler and woman, she is up against a lot in her job. However, throughout this book she has more obstacles than one could ever think. At one point, I was against liking this book. There was so much that had happened to Karen that it was just not real to me. Yes, I know it’s fiction, but wow the overload. I kept going on, just barely turning page by page. I’m glad I did because it really did set up where the story was going. There is a lot that happens to her, and maybe not all of it needed, but I did enjoy the story.There are a lot of typical things she has to deal with such as being the female in a male dominated career, especially the specialized job as profiler. While some of the men are supportive, she has many that are not. Quite a hurdle to overcome. However, she does it well and when she is with these men, she does not wallow in her problems. I did like that about the story.Wayne Rudnick is not a main character. He only appears in one chapter. However, he made me laugh. What a great character portrayed as a head of his unit. Very knowledgeable, but definitely knows how to have fun. He provided my LOL moment of the book.

[cmwilson101 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

FBI profiler Karen Vail hunts down a serial killer, while battling an abusive ex-husband and dealing with an elderly parent. The story sounds good .... but .... I really disliked the heroine, who is pushy and arrogant, and just could not suspend disbelief over all the personal connections she has to a case that she is assigned to investigate. Publisher Weekly summarized this book best with "Though Jacobson's research into the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit is evident, he overloads his story with too much information and unbelievable coincidences."***spoiler alert***The unbelievable coincidences include: the profiler's birth mother being one of the serial killer victims, her birth father being the suspected killer, and her separated-at-birth twin sister being the ultimate killer (though the profile naming a male killer was correct, because the sister has multiple personalities)....

[gavalady · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story kept me interested, but the ending was difficult for me to accept. Some of the characters were not well developed.

[dbower_21 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love detective/police mysteries and picked this book up for my kindle. I finished it in a single sitting and immediately picked up the second book (Crush) and the third (Velocity). Mr. Jacobson has become an author that I have on my watch list for new books.

[ark76_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fans of Criminal Minds will enjoy this mystery thriller about FBI profiler Karen Vail, a recurring character in Jacobson's books. Unlike Criminal Minds, Vail works more independently than the team in the TV show although there is enough interaction with the task force team to develop the characters and become interested in the drama in their personal lives.Karen is searching for a serial killer, dubbed the Dead Eyes killer, who pretends to be an FBI agent. All of this she is trying to balance a custody battle involving abuse and a budding romance. The balance between a mystery, Vail's personal life, the FBI team and some city politics keeps the reader involved and not wanting to sleep until the book is finished.

[thesolitarybookworm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was a a great book, hands down. I definitely enjoyed how Jacobson pictured a detailed crime scene, how he built each character in the story and how he twisted the plot in every possible way.When I started reading the book, I was instantly hooked. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. It was definitely worth my time. I just wished Jacobson built Karen's (main character) as strong as she should be being a profiler. I just thought that the character was somewhat week or lacking as how I had pictured her.The story definitely had it's low points, and I don't want to go into details to not give out spoilers but the low points of the book is just 1% of the whole novel. Had an unexpected twist. When I thought I knew how the story would end, Jacobson injected brilliant twist to the plot that can make think twice. I can say all in all that it is a great book to read, worth buying and definitely worth sharing to others. Because of this great read, I may have to check for Jacobson's first and second novel.This book is definitely for the thrill seekers, murder mystery fanatics and the curious minds of people who are fascinated with criminal profiling.

[sandylee_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Karen Vail is a profiler with the FBI. Women are being murdered and their eyes stabbed, hence the “Dead Eyes Killer” nickname for the serial killer. When written from the killer’s POV, naturally it is creepy. Clues are dropped along the way that the killer may be in law enforcement, even an FBI agent. Although the killer’s identity is a total surprise it is also a tired, clichéd revelation. I found myself more interested in Karen’s private life. Her ex –husband is a total jerk. Her son is mentally abused by his father but there’s nothing Karen can do about it since her ex has visitation rights. Then the jerk presses charges against Karen because she takes a needed swing at him. When her son ends up in the hospital in a coma, this reader was more interested in the ex getting his just desserts than the killer.