The Man Who Cast Two Shadows

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Formerly a child of the streets, now a brilliant computer hacker and NYPD sergeant, Kathleen Mallory's powerful intelligence is matched only by the ferocity with which she pursues her own unpredictable vision of right and wrong. And she will need every bit of that intensity now, in a murder case that strikes close to home in more ways than one.From Publishers WeeklyO'Connell's second novel (after Mallory's Oracle) brings back NYPD Sergeant Kathy Mallory, plunging this tough-minded yet soulful heroine into another convoluted case. When a woman killed in Central Park is mistakenly identified as Mallory, the former street urchin and computer whiz sets herself up as bait by moving into the apartment building that houses her three main suspects. Using a computer and the building's electronic bulletin board to psych out the killer, she stirs up more than she bargained for?including someone who wants her dead. Other elements in the intelligent plot include a crime of passion, a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game and a boy who may be telekinetic and whose stepmothers keep dying. The dialogue is crisp, the prose supple, but the overall tone is dour, sometimes, in fact, mournful. Not enough of the story is told from Mallory's point of view, however, and O'Connell tends to evoke her mysterious behavior through description rather than through action. As a result, Mallory?who with her bitter youth, street smarts and rough edges carries echoes of Andrew Vachss's Burke?remains an enigma, a major absence at the center of the plot. BOMC and QPB selection. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalFew mysteries embody the intensity of O'Connell's second Kathy Mallory title. Mallory, a street urchin fostered by a now-dead New York cop and his wife, follows in her father's footsteps as a primo detective. Taken off suspension to cover the murder of a woman at first identified as Mallory herself, she pits her uncanny intelligence and formidable computer skills against a compulsive and evasive adversary. Moments of wry humor invade the author's incisive prose, tempering an admirable female protagonist sure to gather a following. Highly recommended. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.