Serial Killers and truck stops just seem to go together. There's
something about these latenite sleazy islands off the interstates that
attracts the worst of our society. Two of the nastiest serial killers ever
dreamed up meet by off chance. Jack Daniels, the famed police
lieutenant, stops in at the truck stop for some coffee. As you might
have guessed, it's getting mighty crowded there and with that much
adrenalin flowing, something's bound to happen and does. A good
solid thriller from the team of Konrath and Kilborn, who interview each
other in a lengthy interview after the story. Talk about split personalities. This book does not come with a warning label and it
should. If you are looking for Nancy Drew type fiction, maybe this ain't
for you. There's violence - a bit. But it's great writing and you wont be
able to put it down. Five stars indeed ( )

While on her way to rendezvous with her fiancee, Latham, for a much-deserved vacation police Lt. Jack Daniels finds herself hopelessly lost on a dark rural highway. Before she loses cell phone reception Latham tells her that she has driven at least 3 hours in the wrong direction and Jack manages to tell him that she is nearing a truck stop known as Murray's. Needing some strong coffee, food and a restroom Jack pulls into the truck stop parking lot never realizing that she might never leave it again. Two serial killers happen to be customers of Murray's at the moment and one of them knows exactly who Lt. Daniels is. Hoping to score the biggest thrill kill of their lives the two manage to subdue Jack forcing her into the cab of one of the 18 wheelers. The two murderers have no idea just how much of a challenge Jack will turn out to be.

I am such a Kilborn/Konrath fan and even though some of his stories are beyond horrific I just keep right on reading them. These 2 killers are particularly nasty and have starred in other books by Kilborn and his sometimes co-writer Blake Crouch. Definitely not for the faint of heart, or faint of stomach for that matter, but a good chilly scare for those who dare.
( )

I stumbled on this in my usual unplanned way. I have been following the current dispute over ebook pricing and the battle now enjoined between Amazon, Apple, and the Big Six (minus 1). Konrath has a blog called A Newbies Guide to Publishing in which he documents his anti-DRM approach to digital publishing. It' worth a read. Anyway, he has brought out several of his backlist and short stories as inexpensive digital books and Truck Stop, really a short novella, was my first. It's a confrontation between his detective Jack Daniels and two serial killers who meet up and decide to victimize Jack. This led to Serial (the uncut version which actually contained Truck Stop) and completes the journey of one of the serial killers (no spoilers.) Serial does have an interesting conceit, two serial killers meet up, one hitchhiking and then they both get hoist with their own petard. It's fun.

I read one of his Jack Daniels novels. They are a quixotic blend of humor, detective, and thriller. ( )

This book was awesome it really left you want ing more! It was horribly laugh out loud funny in parts. You won't be sorry!

I agree with another reviewer that this short story is too short. I liked where the story was going but I felt like it just ended. As in the story was moving along and then woosh, that's it. And, though I enjoyed the story, especially because it was less than 2 bucks on Kindle, I really dislike when I think there will be more to the story and it turns out to be excerpts from like four other books. Gross.

On a bright (and sick?) note, I find myself liking the horror (though there isn't as much in this one as in Serial) genre more and more. ( )