Mark Gilroy

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Mark Gilroy July 28, 2016

USA TODAY Review: Cuts Like a Knife

Mystery, suspense, touches of romance and a hearty dose of wry humor fill the action-packed pages of M.K. Gilroy's debut novel, Cuts Like a Knife.

Mystery, suspense, touches of romance and a hearty dose of wry humor fill the action-packed pages of M.K. Gilroy’s debut novel, Cuts Like a Knife.

A look back at the first national review of my debut novel!

Review: ‘Cuts Like a Knife’ by M.K. Gilroy

By Serena Chase, USA TODAY [LINKED TO USA TODAY]

The sitch: Kristen Conner is a tough police detective who coaches her niece’s soccer team, spends a lot of time with her family – even when things are tense, which is most of the time – and goes to church on Sunday – except when family things are tense or she’s busy with work, which is a lot of the time, lately. She’s a good cop who has risen through the ranks quickly – too quickly some think, crediting her dad’s legacy in the department more than her skill set.
Though she can’t hit the proverbial barn with a bullet, she’s got great detective instincts and is all aces in hand-to-hand combat, a skill that protects her in the field but garners the attention of Internal Affairs when a knife-wielding punk cries “excessive force” upon his arrest.
Narrowly avoiding a suspension, Kristen is assigned to a hush-hush joint task force of the Chicago P.D. and the FBI to catch the serial killer known as the Cutter Shark. Desperate to catch the killer before he does his grisly work on another young Chicago woman, Kristen goes undercover in hopes of drawing him out. But the Cutter Shark has had Detective Conner in his sights all along … and he’s closer than she thinks. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Books, Cuts Like a Knife

Mark Gilroy July 17, 2014

Reflections of a Serial Killer

Kristen Conner has moved on to other cases, but the serial killer she put away in Cuts Like a Knife is still thinking about her … the Shark lives.

The Cutter Shark is a serial killer that haunts Detective Kristen Conner in the M.K. Gilroy novels.

The Serial Killer

In the first Detective Kristen Conner suspense thriller, Cuts Like a Knife, Kristen comes face-to-face with a serial killer that the Chicago press dubbed, The Cutter Shark. The Shark is now a resident of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago where he remains silent no matter how many hours a day FBI agents interrogate him.

He is on the 27th floor, which houses the most dangerous criminals. His cell has a slit window that is 5 inches wide and 7 feet high. Conner has moved on to other murder cases in Every Breath You Take and Cold As Ice, but the Cutter Shark’s thoughts remain on Kristen.

For those that have read Cuts Like a Knife and Every Breath You Take, the following feature with the Cutter Shark will be a treat. For those who haven’t yet read the novels, you might want to skip this as it contains a big spoiler: the identity of the serial killer. Wondering who he is has been a big part of the reading pleasure for many mystery-suspense fans!

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Filed Under: Cold As Ice, Cuts Like a Knife, Every Breath You Take, Presentations

Mark is a publisher, author, consultant, blogger, positive thinker, believer, encourager, and family guy. A resident of Brentwood, Tennessee, he has six kids, with one in college and five out in the "real world." Read More…

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