The Butcher's Theater

By: Jonathan Kellerman

Narrated by: Ben Kingsley

They call the ancient hills of Jerusalem the butcher's theater. Here, upon this bloodstained stage, a faceless killer performs his violent specialty: The first to die brutally is a fifteen-year-old girl. She is drained of blood, then carefully bathed and shrouded in white. Precisely one week later, a second victim is found. From the sacred Wailing Wall to the monasteries where dark secrets are cloistered, from black-clad bedouin enclaves to labyrinthine midnight alleys, veteran police inspector Daniel Sharavi and his crack team plunge deep into a city simmering with religious and political passions to hunt for a murderer whos insatiable taste for young women could destroy the delicate balance on which Jerusalem's very survival depends.

A brilliant novel by a master of the genre, a vivid look at the tortured complexities of a psychopath's mind, a rich evocation of a city steeped in history -- this, and more, is The Butcher's Theater.

Critic reviews

"Crisp ... suspenseful ... intense." -- The New York Times Book Review

"Spellbinding ... a fascinating tale." -- Time

"A finish as tense and suspensful as that of The Day Of The Jackal or Eye Of The Needle. " -- USA Today

"This one is going to scare the hell out of a lot of people on its way to the bestseller lists" -- Elmore Leonard

Love and Hate

If one should choose to read along while listening to a narrator, I do NOT recommend on this title. @hats being listened to and read are not the same text (script) so following along is near impossible. I enjoyed listening to the narrator and reading the book independently from one another but can't stand either in tandem. overall a fantastic read by far

Beyond Wow

Ben Kingsley reading of The Butcher's Theater is fantastic a completely total shock. His voice and accent nailed the story

pretty good 3 hour listen

I discovered that the author had written a detective series but wasn't sure if I wanted to give it a shot. A friend, who had read this book, told me to give this book a try and it might give me a feel about the author's writing style in a police thriller. It didn't disappoint.

A lot was piled into a short story, I guess that's what this is. Set in Jerusalem, Jews, Arabs, the United Nation, Americans all play a part in unraveling the tracking down of a serial killer. In the end, it got really intense as the detective brings the mystery to an exciting conclusion.

Now I'll go check out that series again.

Excellent short story

Short in length this story did not miss anything in quality of characters and story line

Leave the Animals out of it!

I was enjoying the book UNTIL the torture of a cat began being described. I stopped listening right then. Couldn't finish the book after that.