The Competition

What a great and exciting weekend read. The latest was terrific. The twists and turns and research, all combine for another literary tour-de-force. Happy to recommend to all looking for an intelligent beach read.

Blog post scheduled for June 24, 2014.

The Competition

Los Angeles prosecutor Rachel Knight makes her third appearance in The Competition. I have not read the previous novels in this series, but this one is very good and works well without having read the previous novels.

Two masked gunmen enter a school gym during a pep ralley and, armed to the teeth, begin shooting everyone in sight. The chaotic attack ends in the library where it appears the shooters shot each other.

Rachel Knight and LAPD detective Bailey Keller are devastated by the carnage. It is difficult enough to acknowledge the loss of life and the grieving parents as the two interview survivors and attempt to piece together all of the available evidence, but when it appears that the two young men believed to be the suicidal shooters are victims themselves, things get even worse. The real perpetrators are still at large. And they aren't finished.

The relationship between Knight and Keller works well; they understand each other and enjoy each other's company. I liked that the two women are at the forefront and that other strong and capable women are included.

Read in April. Post scheduled for June 23

NetGalley/Mulholland Books

Police Procedural. July 8, 2014. Print length: 416 pages.

had never picked up a marcia clark before but i will definitely now look for her earlier books. liked the characters, the fast pace - this was a very satisfying mystery read.

Marcia Clark writes wonderful thrillers. Her main character is a D.A., just like Marcia Clark was in Los Angeles. If you don't remember, she was one of the prosecutors in the O.J. Simpson trial.

In The Competition Clark's protagonist, Rachel Knight, finds herself in the middle of a horrifying school shooting, but unlike most cases when the shooter takes his own life, this time the two shooters escape. And vow to strike again.

The action is top notch. All the characters are three dimensional, and the plot is full of surprises.

I loved it.

Marcia Clark goes from strength to strength in another fast paced drama. The writing is sublime, characterisation is spot on and in Rachel Knight we have a protagonist that is set to be here for the long run.

The subject matter of student shootings is done with sensitivity and also with a hint of educating the reader. Full of emotion the book is hard to put down and the two main characters are in for a bumpy ride. Together with the obligatory twist the plot is tightly delivered and you never quite know where it's going.

I absolutely adore Knight and although we experience a few scenes in the hotel there are never enough to satisfy me. Brilliant, sensitive and moving. The scenes at school immediately following the mass murder is breathtaking.

A special thank you to Mulholland Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THE COMPETITION, (Rachel Knight #4), by Marcia Clark was my first book by this author, and most definitely will not be my last, as currently going back to read the others in the Rachel Knight Series!

The novel opens with the story of Chris Shilling, a girl whose dream was to be a cheerleader. She worked so hard to be on the team with practicing, losing weight and sweating out the trials—an average girl who pursued a dream and then something horrible happens to her in the gym during the pep rally.

On a regular day which turns into a Fairmont High School shooting, in San Fernando Valley LA— a devastating massacre, which took the lives of eight-four wounded, and thirty-three dead, and counting—making it one of the worst school shootings since the thirty-three killed at Virginia Tech (University). As far as high school shootings, it was worse than Columbine or Sandy Hook.

This of course, is what the killer (s) wanted. To be the best—to prove they were better, so they exceeded the body count and managed to escape. Two snipers, with ski masks—taking no mercy. A Competition.

Rachel Knight, Special Trials, DA’s office is called in to oversee the investigation. Rachel teams up with her best girlfriend, LAPD detective Bailey Keller, neither one caring for the limelight. As things get personal, Rachel begins to receive letters from the killer sent in care of the school to warn her of more to come and challenge her.

They have little to go on, and begin asking students to tell them if they’ve heard any talk about feelings of persecution and plans for revenge. As sometimes with this type of pathology, they often vent to others, and may even demand an audience.

With help from many psychologists trying to get into the minds of the potential killers, as studies indicate sometimes these mass shooters are a heterogeneous group, coming in all stripes with certain markers showing up with some consistence. What goes on in the minds of these killers? What about the parents—did they miss the warning signs?

However, the facts of the investigation do not add up, and when you think you know the identity of the killer, turns out wrong, so the suspense continues to build and the mystery heats up as they are in a race against time before the next hit.

If you enjoy the psychological aspect, you will be pulled into the drama with twist and turns. Loved the strong women characters and their wit and their off duty time with the guys (and who would not want to live at The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, which I love)!

THE COMPETITION offers reflection on the good versus evil and the strength of the parents, and the selfless forgiveness and determination to help prevent others from suffering the same tragedy. This book can be read as a standalone; however, if you are like myself, you will be intrigued –to go back and read the previous books.

Fans of Lis Wiehl will enjoy Clark’s style, and this riveting thriller. With Clark’s background--a former LA, California deputy district attorney, who was the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder case and a frequent media commentator and columnist on legal issues—she knows her stuff and is reflective throughout THE COMPETITION!

​The Competition is the first story of Marcia Clark's that I've read, but it won't be the last. Well written with lots of good descriptions of the characters and scenery, it proceeds as you would expect this type of story to do in real life. As serious as the subject matter is in this book there were also light moments which made for a good read.

Special Trials Unit prosecutor Rachel Knight and LAPD Robbery-Homicide Detective Bailey Keller investigate the mass shooting at Fairmont High School during a homecoming pep rally. The slaughter is overwhelming when leads keep hitting dead ends, until a cellphone video catches a tattoo on one gunman's arm. Four hundred pages of fast paced, intense investigation is lightened with good secondary characters' interactions with Rachel and Bailey. Follow the investigation of a psychopath who mind is set on beating the competition for fame as a mass murderer. Very compelling read.

Love this series. the characters are real and the suspense builds to the point of not being able to put the book down- this is true for all 4 books in the series.

I’ve never read anything by this author, so I felt like an 8-year-old finding a pony under the Christmas tree.

The Plot: If you’ve read the description, you already know a school shooting has taken place, a la Columbine, with a death toll of over 30. It appears that the perpetrators plan to ”improve on” the techniques of other public shooters and execute more bloody massacres.

The Characters: Assistant DA Rachel Knight and Defective Bailey Keller chase down clues in an attempt to prevent the shooters from striking again. They bring in two forensic psychologist consultants (I didn’t think they added much to the story). So begins the process of fitting the pieces of the puzzle together, to find out who the shooters are and catch them before more carnage ensues.

Minor quibble: Since when does an ADA run around with a detective day after day, solving crimes, “Special Trials” title or not (and I never heard of that title at the CO firm where I worked)? Every ADA I ever met was tied to her desk or in court. She certainly wasn’t running around with besties doing things that weren’t her job.

When I was sure I knew the identity of the lead shooter, Clark proved me wrong and the guessing game started again. I loved the plot twists, and The Competition kept me in suspense right up until the last few pages.

*ARC from NetGalley in exchange for agreement to review*
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What if a couple kids decided to repeat some of the worst mass shootings in the United States – and then do them one better? Starting with a Columbine-style school shooting at a Los Angeles area high school and continuing with an Aurora-style theater shooting, author Marcia Clark takes you for a roller-coaster ride that just doesn’t stop. Just as you think L.A. County's Special Trials Prosecutor Rachel Knight and Detective Bailey Keller have narrowed in on the two shooters, all bets are off. The real killers may still be out there, preparing for their next rampage.

This, the fourth in the Rachel Knight series, is every bit as good – probably better – than the others. Clark, a former prosecutor who led the team in the O.J Simpson trial, brings a professional realism to this thriller that will keep you engaged from the first page to the last.

The story starts with a high school pep rally turned blood bath. When two bodies are found in the school library with weapons nearby, we think Knight and Keller have the killers. But just a few inconsistencies in the scene suggest otherwise. So, who are these two and what role, if any, did they play in the carnage? Were they part of the killing spree? Or victims? When someone starts dropping clues that the killing spree is far from over, Knight and Keller begin a cat and mouse chase to find the true killers. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, Clark rips the ground from underneath you and sends you down another frightening path.

Two forensic scientists are brought into to help identify the personality of a psychopathic killer. Their discussion of that personality is chilling; you’ll find yourself thinking of people who have entered the stage that is your life and who were downright creepy. Could one of your friends become a mass-murderer?

The action is fast. The dialogue crisp and believable. Written as if you were looking over the shoulder of the characters, you are quickly drawn in to their lives. You will feel like you’re watching a carefully edited documentary that lets you experience the chase for the killers and that lets you get into the minds and emotions of the characters. You’ll feel the gut-wrenching emotions of parents who discover the child they thought they knew was really a person they could not know. And you’ll find yourself so caught up in the details that Clark lays out for you that you’ll wonder if you are reading a novel or a work of non-fiction.

This is a five-star work. Buy it. Check it out from your library. Ask a friend for her copy. But read it.

This is the 4th book featuring Rachel Knight, Los Angeles DA. While it is more interesting to read them in order, this one is a terrific stand-alone.

This time around it's a school shooting, leaving dozens of children dead.... including the two shooters. Or are they dead? As Rachel and her best friend, Detective Bailey Keller start putting the puzzle together, they find things that just don't add up....and the chase is on.

I don't think many of us have ever forgotten the Columbine shooters, the armed gunman at Sandy Hook. These killers are out to make those shootings look menial.

Awesome book.... great storyline. The suspense starts on page 1 and continues until the very last page. Would highly recommend this book.

Another awesome book by Marcia Clark. I read her third book first, then went back and read the first two. All of them are excellent but this one might be my favorite.

A story about high school kids who shoot up a high school and their “competition” to be the best mass murders ever, beating out the Columbine shooters et al, had me on the edge of my seat.

It’s a great story with many unexpected twists and turns. In the end Rachel Knight and Bailey Keller get their man, but not the way they would have liked to.

I highly recommend this book and can’t wait for the next. As a side note, reading Marcia Clark’s books always make me want to drink a martini. This is not a bad thing. ;-)

The thought, detail, research and preparation for everything that went into this book was so thorough and full of meticulous writing, I can't imagine it being any better! As heart-wrenching as this book was to read I couldn't put it down, it was really good and I can't wait to read more in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read this ARC book for my honest opinion.

I read Marcia Clark's first novel a few years ago and enjoyed it. If I had seen any others on bookshelves, I would have bought them. The Competition was a fast-moving, suspenseful account of a terrible shooting at a high school and the efforts of Rachel, Bailey and the entire LAPD to figure out who the shooters were and keep them from further killings. The main characters are sharp and likeable. The story flows well, and the ending was satisfying. I will be reading her other books.

This book begins with the horrifying scene of a high school massacre, something that is all too familiar to anyone who watches the evening news on tv. Prosecutor Rachel Knight and her friend, LAPD detective Bailey Keller, are tasked with identifying the shooters and brining them to justice. There are many twists and turns in the plot and you will learn a lot about the make up of a psychopath. This is a fast moving, thrilling book which kept me enthralled from the very first page. I highly recommend it.

Marcia Clark is an international legal celebrity. We saw her nearly every weekday for eleven months on daytime television from November 1994 to October 1995 during the lurid O.J. Simpson murder trial. She presented as an attractive, intelligent, diligent, and aggressive lead prosecutor; very much a challenge to a dream team of prominent defense attorneys. After a lengthy leave of absence following the trial, she resigned from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in 1997 and began a career as author, commentator and legal advisor on television for high profile trials. With Teresa Carpenter, she produced an account of the notorious trial under the provisions of a $4.2 million deal. Since then she has written four novels with the last one, “The Competition,” being released this year. I’ve read a couple of her books, enjoyed them, and consider the current book to be the best so far.

Clark’s narrator in her books is prosecutor Rachael Knight, her pseudo-identical twin with characteristics of toughness, intelligence, quick thinking, and a dogged determination to get things right. Clark takes the reader into the secret domain of the prosecutor’s world and reveals all the angst of dealing with horrendous violence, duplicitous villains, quirky witnesses, distraught families, the meddlesome press, and office politics. In this book she reconstructs mass shootings and the search for the perpetrators who, after having been presumed to have committed suicide at the scene, turn up very much alive and bent on committing even more violent events involving larger groups of victims. Teamed up with a female lead police investigator, Knight faces deadly time constraints in catching the manic shooters. Current real life events bring a sense of familiarity and add interest to the story.

Clark’s writing is terse, witty, and very well constructed, making her story intriguing and addictive. Her characters are well defined and offer a side benefit of provoking conjecture as to whether they emulate real acquaintances in Clark’s life in law enforcement; Only the author knows, but I’d bet that their behavior could easily be traced by those familiar with the author’s career path.

“The Competition,” in addition to being a fine crime novel, serves as a sort of travelogue as Clark displays an intimate familiarity with the Greater Los Angeles environment; the scenic locations, life style, places to visit, and eating spots. It also reveals Clark’s fondness for food, sleeping in, and ability to produce wilting sarcasm and sharp wit. I don’t know anything about Clark’s romantic life but readers, should they care to, can make their own conclusions based on prosecutor Knight’s proclivities.

Marcia Clark’s books make for great, light reading and I highly recommend them for those who love fast-moving, intriguing, and realistic crime stories. “The Competition” will certainly provide a positive introduction.

Clark sets the emotional hook early on as the team of Rachel and Bailey are drawn into the most explosive and tantalizing case in this series. The most feared activity in the modern world, a school shooting, starts the investigation to find the shooters and prevent further violence. As always, the writing is masterful and the vivid descriptions promote the narrative. The details of the police work and the realistic interplay between the characters bring the reader into the world of law enforcement in a way that is fascinating and educational. However, the key feature of this book is the growing suspense as the shooters strike again and leave few clues as to their identities. Well worth a re-read.

Loved this book! It was a terrific thriller to get lost in. The writing is spot on and utterly captivating.

In her latest novel, The Competition, Marcia Clark confronts the current crisis involving school shootings headfirst. While touching on all the most controversial aspects of these investigations, Clark still manages to avoid any sensationalism. The Competition is an example of the investigative procedural at its best.

As with the previous titles in the series, The Competition presents its action through the eyes of Rachel Knight, prosecutor for Los Angeles Special Trials, DA’s office. Fans of the series will expect that her cohorts in crime prevention are not far away; and they would certainly be correct. In this novel, Detective Bailey Keller takes the “second chair,” but Toni LaCollier also makes a few well-timed cameos. Feeding them information from the Robbery-Homicide division is Rachel’s boyfriend Graden Hales.

Just after the front cover of the book is cracked open, the reader is thrust into the midst of the aforementioned school shooting. A rampage is happening at Fairmont High School, located in a suburb in the San Fernando Valley. Marcia Clark does a fine job of recreating the mass confusion and hysteria associated with such events. This explosive and action-packed opening grabs reader’s attention, but it is what follows that will keep them turning the pages. As the dust begins to settle on this horrific event, the true story rises to the surface.

Why did these two gunmen target this school? Where did they get the guns? Why did they commit suicide at the conclusion of their rampage? And more importantly, are those two bodies the only gunmen?

What follows is a detailed accounting of the investigation into this crime. Marcia Clark knows how these investigations work and excels at showing the twists and turns a case can take as new leads open up avenues not previously considered. It is a testament to her background that Clark is able to include some out-of-the-blue revelations during the questioning of suspects without it ever seeming contrived or unbelievable.

Since so much of the novel deals with why these shooters would do such a thing, Rachel and team also call in some help from two esteemed psychologists. It is through their analysis that readers are given a true glimpse into the fractured minds of individuals who could potentially commit such heinous acts. Things only get worse when it becomes obvious that these killers are in competition with those that came before – and they won’t go down until they are more “famous.”

As is her standard practice, Marcia Clark peppers her tale with local color details such as restaurants (Engine Co. No 28), hotels (The Biltmore), neighborhoods, and more – all of which makes the tale feel authentic. Even with such a high profile case, these characters have lives outside of their work, which is another detail that many crime fiction authors tend to forget.

Marcia Clark should be commended for tackling such a difficult topic without allowing any societal bias to sway her plot. As so often happens in life, there are no easy answers. It would be a disservice to readers if she purported to fully understand such complex moral issues. This is not to imply that there is no resolution. It just means that readers should not expect everything to be tied up in a perfect little bow.

The Competition is a book that will cause people to contemplate the topic of violence while they are reading and then continue to ruminate on it long after the last word is consumed.

This is the fourth novel in Marcia Clark's Rachel Knight series. Having read and reviewed the previous three, I would say that this is the best one so far. I became quite engrossed in this one and read it very quickly.

The plot involves a high school massacre which is based on the Columbine incident. It appears that the killers are trying to outdo previous villains with a higher body count. Hence, the title The Competition. Initially the police believe that two bodies found at the scene are those of the killers. But as the investigation progresses it becomes clear that this is not the case. It also becomes clear that further killings are planned. The second one involves a shooting in a cinema modeled on the Aurora, Colorado mass shooting but fewer people are killed.

Meanwhile the police are hot on the trail of one student who appears to be implicated. A second they thought likely is already dead. The second real killer is not unmasked until the finale.

This novel is well written and flows smoothly heightening your interest as you turn the pages. Definitely worth reading. Recommended for lovers of crime fiction.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy via NetGalley to review.

This book started with such a compelling collection of characters that I went back to read the first three in the series. Rachel Knight's life is barely holding together, but she manages to grind through the investigations (and her legal administrative workload) to see things through.

The thought of a school shooting is horrifying enough, but the plot takes two more innovative twists that keep you guessing until the pieces finally fall into place. Marcia Clark is on my permanent reading list.