Review: Different locale, different climate, same story...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 8, 2014
My introduction to Rick Murcer was through Carribean Moon, his earlier mystery aboard a cruise ship, with a similar cast of characters as evidenced in Vegas Rain. Only now, Detective Manny Williams is a Fed heading a Behavioral Analysis Unit confronting a killer in Las Vegas and he is married to Chloe after the death of Louise. Small changes admittedly as the story is the same, a heinous killer is at work and the BAU is charged with their capture. Could the killer be the same antagonist believed killed in Carribean Moon ? Only avid Murcer readers will find the answer to this conundrum that takes some reading to get to.As much as Carribean Moon entertained this reviewer, Vegas Rain was somewhat of a let down. While the story and characters are similar, the pace, energy and compelling nature of the story flagged. The tale in Rain is much bigger and with the promotion to the Fed, the scope of the story undermines it's effectiveness. Vegas Rain is still a good story in it's own right but compared to Carribean Moon, it comes in second place.