Criminal Minds

Barnes & Noble will start selling Criminal Minds: Jump Cut on November 6. Apparently this is the first in a series of books based on Criminal Minds. For only $6.99, you can read about a BAU case - I’m assuming the characters in the book are the same as in the show (their pictures are on the cover, so I feel pretty safe in saying that!). A review on the B&N website calls it a “fascinating crime thriller.”
The basic plot is the murders of homeless people in Lawrence, Kansas. The killer stalks the victims, drugs them, and then chains them up, leaving them with the tortured hope they’ll escape. After four bodies are found, the BAU is called in. They see the escalation in violence. While they are in Lawrence, a college student is kidnapped. The ransom demand is $68,000. They figure the cases are connected as it’s a small town. They need to find the connection between the kidnapping and the murders.
The prologue of Jump Cut is told from the murderer’s point of view, and he (or she) continues to speak throughout the book. The case is told from the third person point of view, and the reviewer says this adds tension, because you don’t know what happens to the last victim until the end.
Max Allan Collins authors the book. Collins has also written books based on CSI and NYPD Blue (best show ever). He scripted the Dick Tracey comic strip from 1977-1993, and the movie, Road to Perdition, with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, is based on Collins’s graphic novel.
I love books, but for some reason, I have a block against books based on tv shows. I have no problem with movies based on books - I don’t know why. My mind just decides these things one day, and no logic can change it. But maybe a good book review would persuade me to read it. If anyone gets Jump Cut, let me know how you like it. You can write a review for all of us.