Killing Time

By: Linda Howard

Narrated by: Joyce Bean

In 1985, with much fanfare, a time capsule was buried under the front lawn of a small-town county courthouse, to be reopened in 2085. But just 20 years later, in the dead of night, the capsule is dug up, its contents stolen.

That same night, one of the contributors to the capsule is brutally slain in his home - with no sign of forced entry or indication of a struggle. One by one, others who had placed items in the time capsule are murdered.

Besides his suspicions about the sudden, mysterious appearance of Nikita Stover, the chief investigator, Knox Davis, has absolutely no leads. And while Nikita's no murderer, she seems to be hiding plenty of secrets. With more at stake than anyone else realizes, the smart-talking Nikita is determined to catch this cunning killer - while at the same time battling her own deepening feelings for a man and for a world in which she doesn't belong.

©2005 Linda Howard (P)2005 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Such a fun story!

I'm kind of a nerd so I loved the time travel aspect of this book. My only dislike was the voice for Knox. he sounded like a grandpa, not sexy at all!

Loved it

sometimes the narrator made the dialogue a bit disconnected from the emotion but that wasn't often and I wasn't disappointed with this book in the least.
Brava ladies

love linda howard

Linda howard does a great job again-- the "future" was treated well, and the whole story was very interesting

good job

Rogue FBI agents come back from the future

About 3.75 stars for the story and 4.5 for the narration by Joyce Bean. I actually liked this story more than expected, despite its "just average" rating on Amazon and Good Reads. The time-travel theme didn't detract from the quintessential quality of a romantic suspense penned by Linda Howard.

I liked the setting, small town Kentucky, 2005. Liked the shrewd hero, Knox Davis, archtypical bulldog detective. Everyone likes Knox, and at first he seems easy-going, even mild. Don't be fooled. Knox, like all Howard heroes, is alpha, protective, shrewd, determined, and passionate.

Great heroine, Nikita Stovar, FBI agent from the future (200 years in the future). She's a Howard heroine through and through: compassionate but strong, clever, careful, determined. Never a victim. Never too stupid to live.

The plot was decent. Coherent. Credible, in a weird SCI-FI way. Slightly interesting, from an academic perspective. But predictable. I guessed who was helping the villain.

Yummy love scenes. Two scenes -- just the right amount for me. (Still fanning myself over that shower sex!!)

Why only 3.5 stars? Two main reasons:

Pacing problems. Howard too frequently digressed from the present year (2005) to describe life 200 years in the future: space colonies, vaccinations (no handshakes), technology, weaponry, politics, medical breakthroughs, etc. Who cares? I wanted to know about the time capsule, the murders, and their developing relationship. This digression slowed the pace tremendously, especially when it was conveyed through Niki's internal rumination. It felt irrevelevant. I grew impatient. Bored.

Also, the epilogue was set in the future, with Niki's parents. I wanted it to be set in Kentucky, with Knox and maybe his parents, etc. I don't know her futuristic parents, or her little nephew. No matter how adorable, I simply don't care about them. Never met them. Why place them into the story at the very end??

But on the up side, at least this book didn't have numerous slasher scenes, explicit murders complete with flashing knives, pounding hammers, and rivers of blood. Much as I loved Mr. Perfect and Dream Man, I hated the explicit murder scenes. This book felt "more like Open Season, set in a small Southern town, with fade-to-black murders and a well-liked hero who works in the police department and cares about his parents. It also reminded me of the small-town-sheriff hero in Blue Moon, in Howard's anthology Strangers in the Night.

Just OK

I liked the premise of this book, so wanted to "read" it. But it was not one of my favorites. It was kind of boring at times, because I couldn't get into the plot at all. I thought chemistry of the characters were not as good as in other books by this author. So just an "ok" listen for me.