The Safe Word
The Eleanor Raven Series Book 1
by Karen Long
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Pub Date Jan 19 2014 | Archive Date Jul 01 2015
Description
There are rules that every player of every game must abide by, no matter how dangerous the sport.
Toronto has become the backdrop to a macabre set of artistic installations: women kidnapped, tortured and horrifically displayed by a killer with a vision.
Only someone capable of understanding the killer’s creative desire will be able to stop the murders and D I Eleanor Raven is uniquely qualified. Driven by a complex personality she pursues only the facts, only the things she can see, but never casts a judgement.
But she also has a dark and dangerous secret – one that will threaten her very survival.
A Note From the Publisher
She is a keen amateur naturalist with a deep and abiding love for the crow family. She has dedicated time, love and several fingers in an effort to rehabilitate crows, magpies, rooks and ravens.
Karen is happy to correspond with readers and can be contacted through her website KarenLongWriter, where she posts regular blogs.
The Safe Word is Karen's first novel and was an Amazon bestseller. It was joined by the second in the Eleanor Raven series, The Vault, in December 2014
Advance Praise
For DS Eleanor Raven It's not so much who, what or when but 'why' that leads this powerful read to its conclusion and Karen Long reminds us that a brutal, vicious and destructive act is not something inherently 'Evil' or derived from Satan but is a rational choice made by a human being. The quirky, offbeat and endearing relationship between Eleanor and her partner Laurence Whitefoot shines a light on this dark compelling world of sexual intrigue and mystery. My imagination was certainly held captive! Robson Green
Most fictional detectives these days have to have a ‘thing’ to set them apart from the others, and Raven’s is one of the most original for a long time. The plot moves in some unexpected directions, and builds to a genuinely exciting climax. The Safe Wordis an impressive, confident debut. Convincing characters and some nice twists make for a compelling, satisfying thriller, and I look forward to seeing what’s next for Eleanor Raven. Killing Time
Featured Reviews
Rosemary S, Librarian
Toronto is under siege. A serial killer is kidnapping and torturing women, then leaving their bodies on display like some kind of grotesque artwork. Enter DI Eleanor Raven, a woman with unique talents and an even more unique personality. Eleanor is able to judge every situation based solely on facts – no speculation, no emotion cloud her views. That’s good, because it will take someone who can divorce themselves of all emotion in order to catch this monster. This is a wildly imaginative story with a unique heroine who does what it takes to get the job done. Highly recommended.
LaShana B, Reviewer
Loved this book!!! I cannot wait to read more about Eleanor Raven and Whitefoot. This book is not your typical serial killer novel. Only someone with a clue of the world the killer inhabits can find him. In comes Eleanor Raven. Her proclivities make her the perfect detective to find the killer and she does so, even if it means putting herself in harms way. I look forward to the next book.
Tracy G, Reviewer
DI Eleanor Raven is hunting down a killer that likes to kidnapped women, tortured and horrifically display his victims but with little evidence to go on and now the killer has his sights on the lead detective and plans to make him her final show piece. It's all a game of cat and mouse to him. But DI Raven has some secrets of her own that even her own colleagues don't know about but is the key to her secret the key to catching the killer?
Great book was hooked from the start
C L J, Reviewer
DI Eleanor Raven has a past she would prefer her colleagues not know about brought on by the death of her childhood friend that she still wishes she had been able to foresee and prevent. Now she is on the trail of a ritualistic killer that comes perilously close to the secret life she has chosen. This makes her a target for the killer. As she and her new partner try to solve these crimes before more bodies can be displayed for viewing she has been placed in the killer's sites. Now they must find her before she becomes the next artistic display on the killer's path to recognition.
Elisa R, Reviewer
The Safe Word is Karen Long's first novel. It is an impressive debut, maintaining the rhythm of the plot until its breathtaking conclusion. Eleanor Raven and her fellow detectives are fleshed-out characters with quirks that grow on you, like real-life coworkers. I also loved Monster (nothing like K9 training to get a dog in line!). As a debut novel it is a good start, but I found some parts a little confusing, some plot points are dropped without follow-up (whatever happened with Manny the transsexual prostitute and how did she know the first victim was part of the series?) and the use of the word "principals" instead or "principles" shows that maybe some more editing would help. I any case, these are smaller details and the one thing I ask from a thriller is for it to be entertaining and fun to read. The Safe Word accomplishes this and more. I'm looking forward to the next book, if this is going to be a series.
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Leanna Renee Hieber; Andrea Janes
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