J. J. Hensley

I gave this novel a shot when I saw it was a 2014 ITW Thriller Award Nominee for Best First Novel, and I wasn't disappointed. It starts as a murder mystery in the Pittsburgh area involving a college co-ed, and a college professor and several of his marathon running friends become suspects and / or subsequent victims. I normally don't care too much for books written in different times, when you have to alternate between the current time and a past or future time or place, but the author, J.J. Hensley, did that seamlessly and effectively. While there were several murders, none were gruesome in description, and I thought the book was engaging throughout.

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Pittsburg becomes the canvass for a killer's work of revenge art. Keeps you reading, some beautiful twists, but one of the best aspects of this novel is the "insider information" that you get. If you read the author's bio you understand that he has a lot of experience in law enforcement and has probably seen his share of political corruption that is hidden largely from public eyes. Those insights gave the book a greater sense of authenticity. You know them when you seen them because any other writer would have given his/her reader something generic. Definitely worth the read.… (more)

Chalk’s Outline stands alone as a fascinating, dark and scary novel of human interactions, filled with terrifying danger, dark mystery, and curious questions of innocence and guilt. Reintroducing characters from the author’s previous books—Resolve and Measure Twice—it might entice readers who haven’t read the earlier works to pick them up, and soon. But there’s no need to know the backstories of these wounded characters. Their present actions offer plenty to intrigue and draw the reader in.

A deeply wounded recovering alcoholic detective is pitted either with or against a protagonist who hides a deeply mysterious past. But an unknown antagonist holds a secret motive, sniper’s rifle, and fierce determination to kill. All three points of view are skillfully woven together in this novel, offering convincingly different voices, complex motivations, and a perfect sense of timing for each revelation.

If you’ve never heard of Hedonistic Calculus, you’ll meet it here, ponder its implications, and wonder at its conclusions. If you’ve never met the long-suffering wife of victim or cop, meet “two women who were probably smarter than either he or Keller could ever hope to be.” But neither knowledge nor gun can offer complete protection in this tale. The walls of home and job might help, but in the end, it takes a harder kind of wall, or death, to keep the wolf at bay.

A novel of secrets, hopes, truths and semi-truths, Chalk’s Outline might be drawn around the body or the place the body doesn’t lie. But truth will be drawn around another set of lies entirely. It’s a very cool, dark tale, and truly enthralling.

Disclosure: I was given a free ecopy and I offer my honest review.… (more)