The Fifth Victim (Cherokee Pointe Trilogy #1; Griffin Powell #2) by Beverly Barton

The Fifth Victim (Cherokee Pointe Trilogy #1; Griffin Powell #2) Reviews

• 
  PamG

  THE FIFTH VICTIM by Beverly Barton is the first book in the Cherokee Pointe Trilogy series and mostly takes place in the Smoky Mountain region of Tennessee. Genny Modoc has some disturbing visions that are violent in nature. FBI agent Dallas Sloan is hunting a serial killer. When their worlds collide, there are deaths and sparks. Who is the killer? Does Dallas ever get past his skepticism? What secrets are hidden in the depths of the small town?
  
  The two main characters are likeable, but did not have enough depth to them. Some of the secondary characters were quite interesting and enhanced the story significantly. The internal and external conflicts were well defined for both Genny and Dallas. The plot was interesting and had a good pace. Most of the plot twists were believable, but they were not unexpected. I guessed who the killer was, but there were some other secrets that were revealed that were a surprise. The descriptions were vivid and gave a clear sense of time and place. However, it felt like the townspeople did not change their actions to fit what was occurring in and around town. There are some steamy scenes as well as some gory scenes.
  
  Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I likely will not remember it.
• 
  fleurette

  This is not the best book by Beverly Barton, I read some better ones from her. This one is a bit boring and slow.
  
  The main characters Genny and Dallas are nice and likeable but not truly memorable. I will forget about them in a week or two. Genny has some clairvoyance powers and I like that Dallas is sceptic about them at first. That makes the whole story just a bit more believable and less sweet. And that’s good regarding the fact that this is a love at the first sight story (even with a dash of star-crossed lovers idea). Definitely not what I usually like and I would prefer some altered solution.
  
  The suspense part is okay. Again not really memorable, I read the book like a week ago and the plot is already blurred in my memory. But the actual killer is not that obvious. However, I’m not sure I really cared about who is the killer.
  
  I really like Genny’s friends, I hope they have their own books. If so, one day I will definitely read them.
  
• 
  MuchAdo

  1.5 stars (because I finished it)
  
  Yet another RS where law enforcement agencies are portrayed as stupider than stupid can be. I was having fun telling their fictional asses what to do and how to do it, and I don't have a clue about such investigations except for the education I got from crime films.
  One thing you do, when you narrow your list of suspects down to six, is to tap their phones and have them tailed (especially when they and the victims are all living in a town of 10,000 people -how difficult could that be!). Another thing you do when you get a lead after a central character is shot, is MOST DEFINITELY tap a particular home's phone. And then when another character disappears the absolutely first thing to do is have their phone records CHECKED before you go traipsing around the Smoky Mountains. There, I've done your work for you for free, and had you been minimally convincing as law enforcement agents you'd have nabbed the wacko serial killer in no time and not piss off the reader with your silly cluelessness. Inspector Clouseau was a genius compared to these dunces!
  
  The rest of the story, that should have been interesting given the setting, the Gothic underlying theme and the weight of sorrow the main characters supposedly carry on their souls, was so formulaic, so tediously written, so flat and toneless that you ended up not caring one iota about what happened to them. I certainly did not care whether they lived or not, whether they loved or not, whether they stayed or fled.
• 
  Christa

  The Fifth Victim was an engrossing and very suspenseful book. I really enjoyed the two main characters and the sweet romance that develops between them. The fairly explicit descriptions of the violent acts committed by the villain would be too rough for some readers. I found this first book in the Cherokee Pointe Trilogy well worth reading, and will definitely read the other two.
  
  Special FBI agent Dallas Sloan is on a personal quest to find the monster who brutally murdered his teenaged niece in what appeared to be a sacrificial killing. Dallas has found a pattern in other murder cases across the south. It appears that the killer has committed twenty murders - five in each of four different geographical locations during the last eight years. Now Dallas is contacted by the sheriff of Cherokee County, Tennessee due to a murder there that shares the characteristics of the other twenty. Dallas hurries to Tennessee, runs off the road during a snowstorm, and ends up in the cabin of Genny Madoc. Genny, cousin of sheriff Jacob Buler, has the gift of a "sixth sense." It was her vision that made local law enforcement aware of the murder in their area and led them to the body. Dallas is stranded at Genny's cabin for the night, and she experiences a vision alluding to another murder while he is with her. Dallas is extremely skeptical, and does not believe in psychics of any kind, but he soon finds out that the rest of the community gives credence to Genny's gift. As the murders continue, Dallas and Jacob Butler search for clues to the killer and organize a task force, while Genny continues to experience visions and begins to connect telepathically with the murderer. Soon, it becomes apparent that the killer has included Genny in his evil and gruesome plans. While Dallas works to both protect Genny and find the killer before he continues with of his satanic practices, he begins to trust in her psychic gifts. As Dallas and Genny acknowledge their love, they begin to experience a telepathic connection to one another. Before they can have a future together, Dallas must save Genny from the brutal serial killer.
  
  This book was intense, and I was riveted almost from the beginning. There were quite a few characters in the story which kept the identify of the villain from being obvious from the start. Readers who are put off by graphic descriptions of murder might not like the manner in which the sacrifial killings were portrayed. I enjoyed the fact that the hero and heroine surrendered quickly to their deep feelings for one another. This book contained quite a few paranormal occurences between the heroine and other characters, as well as a few between the heroine and animals. If you love suspense, and are looking for a fast paced book that includes a good dose of touching romance, you should enjoy this story.
  
• 
  Darcia Helle

  I know I'm in the minority here but I just could not get into this book. I found there were too many characters dumped in all at once. The book opened with a graphic in-your-face scene. Then we go through pages and pages of various people, all with their backstories, all at once. I found there were too many characters with viewpoints. There was no one main character that stood out right away and too much information dumped on me that I didn't immediately need.
  
  I also didn't like the way some of the females were portrayed. They seemed to have no backbone at all. One went weak-kneed every time this certain guy came around and he had been doing nothing but using her for sex for years. Yet she continued to fall for him. Another was in a bad, somewhat abusive marriage and needed a man to rescue her. Therefore she seeks that by risking stupid affairs rather than simply leaving the jerk.
  
  When I read fiction, I need characters that I can really latch onto. This book simply didn't do that for me.
• 
  Becci

  I love a serial killer murder mystery but this one left me disappointed.
  
  You have a killer that sacrifices women in fives, the fifth victim being special. There is also a psychic lady and a non believing fbi agent that has a personal agenda for finding the killer. Now I'm all for falling for someone pretty quickly but this fbi agent is not one for commitment but after seeing the psychic he falls in love after 2 minutes.
  
  We have a whole chapter on Genny the psychic and Dallas the fbi agent getting it on, that was a yawn fest for me.
  
  This was more of a love story than a serial killer thriller I was expecting.
  
  I found the characters irritating, I found the story boring, predictable and repetitive and I could not wait to get to the end ( not in a good way ). I guessed who the killer was pretty early on but i was hoping I was wrong so I could get a shock factor which was lacking for me.
  
  High point - I quite liked being in the head of the killer.
  
  Low point - The love story between the two main characters.
• 
  Robin

  Genevieve Madoc has a sixth sense. She sees things as they are happening...violent things. When Genny sees a woman being sacrificed on an altar in the Great Smoky Mountains, she immediately contacts the police. With her help, it doesn't take them long to find the body. When FBI Agent Dallas Sloan hears about the murder, he believes it is the work of the same person who killed his niece. If he's right, there will be four more murders in the next ten days unless he can stop the culprit. When he arrives in the small Tennessee town and learns that Genny had a vision of the murder, he is skeptical of her gift. But as he gets to know her, the begins to believe she may be the key to solving the case.
  
  Book one in the Cherokee Pointe trilogy is a fast-moving romantic suspense. We are introduced to several interesting characters, including many people who were added to my suspect list. I like trying to figure out whodunit. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. My rating: 4 Stars.
  
• 
  Shera Melton

  From the beginnning, this book irked me. It just did not set right with me at all. I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters, the dialog felt fake and forced, and the writing style was sometimes very frustrating. I didn't hate this book, but I didn't really like it either. I kept reading because I wanted to know who the killer was, but it it wasn't for that I probably would not have finished this book. There were too many weak females, and the characters you are supposed to care about (Genny, Dallas, Jacob, Jazzy) got less page time that characters that didn't really matter.
  
  This isn't the first Beverly Barton book I have tried to read. Tried being the operative word. I just don't like her work, so I guess I just need to give up, even thought the books do sound good. I would love to know what happened with Jazzy and Jacob in the two other books in this trilogy, but I just can't wade my way through Barton's writing to find out.
• 
  Dione Brown

  Murder.. Psychics..Intrigue...
• 
  Regina

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ -Audiobook (If I had read the book, instead of listening to the audiobook, this would have been a 4 star read. I deducted a star because of the narrator. I love Marguerite Gavin…She narrates one of my favorite series, A Cape Bay Cafe Mystery, but unfortunately she was not a good fit for this book. The voice she used for the main character Genny was just too much. All breathy and come-hithery no matter what she was saying.)
• 
  Leonie Hinch

  What a hodgepodge mixed up weird novel.
  
  Initially the plot as in the actual crime was a good idea which had me hooked almost straight away. A serial killer who sacrifices his victims and drinks their blood finally killing a fifth victim and eating their heart. The initial prologue drew me in with this storyline and a psychic waking up from a vision where she had seen the murder happen. However it just got worse instead of better.
  
  There was a motley crew of characters. Genny short for genevieve was the town psychic but despite on many occasions being described as being young and beautiful I couldn't help but picture her in my mind as being an old woman due to her personality, way of speaking and mannerisms.
  
  There was the FBI agent Dallas who despite having a fulfilling career with the FBI fell in love with Genny due to her psychic abilities and quit his job to take the job of chief of police in the small town.
  
  Then there were the sex descriptions which were possibly the worst I've ever heard 'his sex extended in front of him' 'she undid his zipper and released his sex' 'the moisture built up inside her preparing her body for mating'
  
  Oh and then we went a bit Pocahontas where Genny could actually communicate with wild animals and stood in the garden surrounded by them with birds on her arms and when she was nearly murdered guess who came to her rescue and led Dallas and her cousin (also the town sherrif) Jacob to her? Oh yes that would be the team of wild owls.
  
  Furthermore there were a series of completely pointless characters and half started sub plots going on. Her best friend Jazzy unlucky in love finally meets a guy who she might actually get with but despite all the time leading up to it with Jazzy almost being raped by her ex lover and despite Genny giving her a 'reading' that said a good man will come into her life we never actually get to find this out the new guy comes to town then it just hits a dead end we never find out if she gets with the new guy or meets anyone else so why bring it up in the first place.
  
  Then there's the two cranky old women one called Sally and the other whose name I can't even remember who are introduced in the beginning of the story, flicker in every now and again mainly because Sally's bloodhounds are used as tracker dogs but never really have any substance or give anything to the story.
  
  Nearly all the characters are having affairs with someone or other but again we only briefly here about this what starts as a sub plot tapers off and gets left without any answers which only serves to ask the question why start them in the first place? None of the characters are particularly likeable or easy to connect with and I spent most of the time thinking why are we just going on about sex all the time? I like a little spice to my story don't get me wrong but this was beyond ridiculous everyone was sleeping with everyone else. Let's throw in a preacher who likes watching his wife have sex with other men at one point she actually comes out of the baptismal font completely naked but oh yes just for good measure we'll make her a 'high priestess' of devil worship and have the preacher get arrested for shooting Genny for knowing too much even though he knows that a) she's already told her sherrif cousin what she knows and b) she can't prove anything anyway as what she knows was seen in a vision.
  
  The whole thing was just stressful for me from chapter 1 I was sorely disappointed it's not often I will slate a book but this one really let me down.
• 
  Lauren

  Started with a bang but fizzled out.
  The dialogue is poorly scripted and the characters are superficial. I found it difficult to care about any of them and the paranormal aspects were poorly integrated.
• 
  Aղցela W.

  This was my first time reading this author. This was a pretty good read. Just outside Cherokee Pointe, Tennessee, a victim is sacrificed on a makeshift altar the gruesome handywork of a killer who has evaded authorities in state after state. FBI agent Dallas Sloan knows the scene all too well just as he knows the killings won’t stop until there are four more bodies. Genny Madoc’s “sixth sense” has brought many of Cherokee Pointe’s residents to her isolated log cabin, looking for help. But now it’s Genny who needs help from disturbing visions that are getting stronger and more violent by the day. Dallas and Genny must work together to find a sadist killer. Although I liked this book, I thought that it was too long at times. I listened to this book on audio, and I loved the narrator. I am looking forward to reading or listening to this author.
• 
  Alex is The Romance Fox

  I liked the plot and the two mc's, Genny and Dallas but I really wanted a bit more on them.
  
  There were so many characters thrown into the story that had my head reeling, trying to keep up.
  I know that the secondary characters are part of the build up for the next books but I would have loved to learn a bit more about Genny and Dallas's lives before they met.
  
  There was so much going on that I sometimes lost the "plot" but I was surprised at the killer's identity....
  
  Not exactly one of my fav's by this author but it was still an enjoyable read.
• 
  Sam Jones

  Couldn't really get into this one. The characters lacked depth and with dialogue that felt forced I found it hard to connect with any of them. Police procedure in relation to the crime was pretty weak too, I'm no expert but I found myself frustrated by their lack of action - a lot of it just commonsense. Still, I did read until the end to find out who the crim was so I gave it three stars but I won't be picking up another Beverly Barton novel anytime soon.
• 
  Pauline

  Good read. This book is a mixture of romance and thriller and works well. Part of a series,looking forward to the next one.
• 
  Teresa

  Okay.
  
  Lousy characters
  Stupid law enforcement officials
  A stupid psychic
  A idiotic love story
  A crappy chapter on sex
  Boring
  
• 
  Amy

  I'm really struggling to find the right words to describe just how bad this book is. It's really bad. I'm not even sure where to start...
  I mean I guess there was potential, and admittedly, I did finish it out of sheer curiosity, but that is about it.
  
  The writing was cringy the entire way through. I get that this was a smut book to a degree, but the continuous objectification of women was nauseating. I lost count of the amount of times that I rolled my eyes or muttered aloud.
  
  It's also super far-fetched...as if 5 gruesome (and I mean gruesome) murders in a small community wouldn't attract a lot of attention. Then multiply that because the same grotesque murders happened in other communities. But no headlines, or FBI, or anyone other than the few officers (and one rogue agent) in the story 🙄...ya right.
  
  Then, enter in the telepathic, sixth sense angle and it equals one big, ridiculously written, hot mess.
  
  Needless to say, I won't be eagerly seeking out the next books in this trilogy.
• 
  Vikki Vaught

  Outstanding suspense! I did know fairly early on who the villain was. Great narration. Happy reading and listening!
• 
  Harper Shay

  Gripped me and I enjoyed falling into the character. This was a really good book for me.
• 
  Vickie

  Kept my interest all the way to the end. Enjoyed the characters. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
• 
  Nick Davies

  Oh my. I don't think I was the target audience for this 'romance thriller' book, so I'm mindful of that.. but this was pretty bad. I'm half tempted to give it three out of five because it made me laugh so much, but I don't think this was intentional.
  
  A serial killer is offing groups of five women in a Deep South town which seems to be populated wholly by folks obsessed with shagging each other or thinking about how they used to shag each other or would like to shag each other in the future. Everyone has to fancy someone else and muse/talk about it all the time. All the women are sassy (in which case they will survive) or sluts (in which case they will die, like in most slasher films of the 70s and 80s). All the men are misogynists, with the possible exception of the two romantic leads. This is all a set-up for the 'out of town' police hero to save the love interest lady and fall for her, dispatching with all his cynicism in the process. All the other women killed in setting up this ending are barely dwelt on, because they're slaaaaaags or something :-)
  
  That said, it was an entertaining read, and - despite a couple of minor oddities in style* if you didn't take it too seriously it was an enjoyable read of dubious 'quality'.
  
  * - There were too many characters beginning with 'J' - Jinny and Jessie and Jamie and Jenny and John-boy and Job and Jedediah and Jehovah, plus the author had a *really* odd tendency to use 'minutes' (probably to mean 'moments') where it seemed to make little sense, the male lead pausing and staring at the women he was talking to 'for a couple of minutes' in mid conversation.
• 
  Anna S

  Genny Madoc hat, wie auch ihre Großmutter vor ihr, die Gabe des zweiten Gesichts. Sie sieht den ersten Mord in einen ihrer Träume und versucht der Polizei bei der Ergreifung des Täters zu helfen.
  
  Dallas Sloan ist schon länger auf der Suche nach dem Mörder seiner Nichte. Als er endlich eine entscheidende Spur hat, macht er sich sofort auf dem Weg nach Cherokee Pointe. Wo er als erstes überrascht durch einen Schneesturm auf Genny trifft.
  
  Genny ist eine sehr nette und liebevolle Protagonistin, die mich manchmal mit ihrem Getue und Nettigkeit nervte.
  
  Dallas Sloan ist mir stattdessen mit seiner etwas rauen Art sofort ans Herz gewachsen. Er ist ein Mensch der nur daran glaubt was er mit seinen fünf sinnen erfassen kann. An einen sechsten glaubt er nicht. Auch daran nicht das Genny einen hat.
  Die Suche nach dem Mörder ist doch spannend von der Autorin geschrieben worden. Leider fehlt diesem Buch doch das gewisse etwas, das ich von der Autorin aus der Griffin Powell Reihe schon kenne. Und trotz der manch ekliger Szenen und den Affären, in denen es in diesem Buch nur so wimmelte, hat mir das Buch gefallen.
  Das Buch wird aus verschiedenen Perspektiven erzählt, was einem hilft, die verschiedenen Entscheidungen der Charaktere zu verstehen.
  
  Normalerweise liebe ich Thriller mit ''Schuss'' wie ich gerne, die Romantic Suspence Bücher nenne. Doch leider konnte mich dieses Buch nicht ganz überzeugen. Es fehlte das gewisse etwas und mehr Tiefe.
• 
  Mackenzie RM

  This is the first book in the Cherokee Pointe Trilogy by Beverly Barton. It's not the first book I've read by Barton but it was fairly amazing. I loved the characters and the entire story line.
  
  FBI Special Agent Dallas Sloan comes to the town of Cherokee Pointe, Tennessee; after connecting the murder of his niece and at least twenty other women in the various states surrounding Tennessee with a murder in the small town. After driving into a ditch, Sloan ends up at Genny Madoc's cabin. He is highly skeptical of Genny's "sixth sense". Genny doesn't give up hope that eventually Sloan will come to realize that she's not some crackpot, like every other person he's come in contact with claiming they have a sixth sense. They were put together by the necessity of finding the killer before someone becomes the fifth victim.
  
  My favorite character was Genny Madoc, she was so unique. It seemed that the entire town of Cherokee Pointe liked her, despite the weirdness of her gift. FBI Agent Dallas Sloan was another of my favorites. There was great chemistry between those two.
  
  I enjoy books like this because there's always a romantic spark that lightens up the whole murder plot. This book certainly didn't disappoint.
• 
  G W

  Having been recommended this book due to my growing love for crime novels, I was left sorely disappointed.
  
  The book had a whole host of characters that were fleshed out almost as soon as you met them and I struggled to keep track of who was who. With characters being introduced half way through and revealing side stories that seemed completely irrelevant to main plot.
  
  Every character in the book seemed to be having an affair or was just plain creepy with the exception of the two main characters whose love story seemed so forced and faked it was difficult to swallow (e.g. the character meeting this 'bizarre' woman and deciding in a mere hour he would 'give his life for hers' which is something he tells her pet dog...). Not to mention there being what felt like pages and pages dedicated to depicting a sex scene instead of anything that even continued the storyline.
  
  The plot itself did have some strong points but eventually it just threw in twists and turns that, without them, would have left the ending less predictable than it became. Instead of finishing the book with a sense of satisfaction, I was left thinking 'Is that it?'
  
  I recently became aware that this is part of a trilogy but would not read any more of the books as this one failed to grasp me as a reader.
• 
  Svetlio Vasilev

  Not that I expected much from a book I just purchased as a multi-buy filler, however, this one made me cringe, roll my eyes, and growl all the way through. The author had a certain affiliation for the word 'pussy', yet used 'sex' instead of penis which I found oddly sexist in a way. Sexism is rather entrenched in the book and not so much in the violence against women but more so in the way female characters are portrayed and viewed by the male protagonists. The notion of one saving her virginity for the one and only knight in shining armour is rather a concept from the 16th century in my book.
  
  On top of everything else, at some point the tale turns into a Pocahontas/Snow White adventure. I would only recommend this if somebody wants to laugh their ass off at the expense of a cheesy, cringeworthy story.
  
  
• 
  Kathrynn

  Book #1 of trilogy.
  Book #2 is "The Last To Die"
  Book #3 is "As Good As Dead"
  
  I picked this up not knowing it was part of a trilogy. Genney, abit of a recluse, uses her strong pyschic abilites to help find a serial killer. Dallas is an FBI agent that arrives to aid this small community; and he has a personal vendetta, too.
  
  I enjoyed the story, but the first half of the book contained quite a bit of reiteration. It could have used a good edit. Oh well. It was still a good read--suspenseful with a dose of romance. There is a small group of devil worshippers in this book and a few chants that gave me the willies. FYI