Killer Instinct (Charlie Fox Crime Thrillers, #1) (Charlie Fox crime thriller, #1) (Charlie Fox, #1)

by Zoe Sharp and Lee Child

Charlie Fox makes a living of sorts teaching self-defence to women. It's a skill Charlie picked up of necessity having been kicked out of the army for reasons she prefers not to go into. So when Susie Hollins is found dead only a few hours after she mistakenly tussles with Charlie at the New Adelphi Club, Charlie knows it's only a matter of time before the police come calling. Only the police reveal that the unlucky Hollins has become the latest victim of the homicidal rapist stalking the local area. Charlie finds herself inadvertently drawn into the investigation when the Adelphi's enigmatic owner Marc Quinn offers her a job. Viewed as an outsider by the existing all-male security team, her suspicion that there is a link between the club and the serial killer doesn't exactly endear her to anyone. Charlie has always taught her students that it's better to run away from a danger than fight unnecessarily. But when the killer starts taking a very personal interest in her it becomes clear that he isn't going to give her that option...

• ISBN10: 1909344087
• ISBN13: 9781909344082
• Publish Date: 15 October 2012 (first published 30 August 2001)
• Publish Status: Inactive
• Out of Print: 14 November 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: ZACE Ltd
• Imprint: Murderati Ink (ZACE Ltd)
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 292
• Language: English

Reviews

This was crazy intense and it was actually pretty funny. Charlie had a wry sarcastic humour that I loved. The plot was interesting and the action had me on the edge of my seat. I did find the romance stupid but it was a minor part and it didn't affect the rest of the book too much.

Charlie was fascinating - she was such a mess of contradictions. I liked her a lot and I felt sorry for the ordeals she had to go through. Particularly when the cops ignore her because they're under the impression she's the girl who cried wolf. But also her strength to overcome her past and the horrible betrayal she suffered from people who should've had her back.

I do wish she had more good friends and a better support network. It made me feel sad that she didn't. I did like that she was violent but advocated for the first rule of engagement to always be to not engage. I think it's important to know your limitations and to always try to avoid such situations where possible and to defuse them if able to.

That said, I didn't like that she always held back. She got hurt a lot more than she ever should've been. The thing is, yes you should avoid fighting but the fact is if you do engage you have to go in, hard and fast and put them down. Any half-hearted measures will just make a person angrier and more likely to hurt you worse.

What made it worse was she had the skill but lacked the confidence to judge when she should or should not use her skills. For instance the fight she breaks up on the dance floor between the two guys - the second he picked up the glass bottle she should've been aiming to incapacitate. A weapon always ups the danger level.

When she gets jumped in her apartment, she hesitates to break bones. I mean they jumped her in her home - that should've been the first move. Instead she let them off easy and got ridiculously beaten up. Realistically, no one that has studied that much self-defence and martial arts would let those situations go as far as she did. But all that said, it didn't affect my enjoyment of the book. It was just a minor thing that bugged me.

Overall it was a really strong read. Complicated plot, great action, well written and a badass main character. 4.5 stars. Will definitely pick up the next one.