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    Damaged
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    Damaged
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    Damaged
    Audiobook (abridged)3 hours

    Damaged

    Written by Alex Kava

    Narrated by Tanya Eby

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In Pensacola Beach, the Coast Guard braces for a Category-5 hurricane that has entered the Gulf of Mexico. During a routine patrol of the waterways, the aircrew spots a massive fishing cooler floating a mile offshore. The guards suspect that the icebox contains smuggled drugs, but when they open it, they're shocked. It is filled with body parts.

    Criminal profiler Maggie O'Dell is sent to investigate as the rest of Florida holds its breath for the storm's impending arrival. Eventually, Maggie is able to trace the torso in the cooler back to a man who mysteriously disappeared weeks earlier after a hurricane hit Port St. Lucie, on the Atlantic side of Florida. How, then, did his body end up six hundred miles away in the Gulf of Mexico?

    Cliffhanger chapters, behind-the-scenes forensic details, colorful characters, and satisfying twists have become the trademarks of Alex Kava's psychological thrillers. In Damaged, she ratchets up the suspense by sending Maggie into the eye of a monster storm to track down a killer.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJul 30, 2010
    ISBN9781441893819
    Unavailable
    Damaged
    Author

    Alex Kava

    ALEX KAVA GREW UP IN THE COUNTRY outside Silver Creek, Nebraska. She earned a bachelor's degree in art and English from College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Nebraska.  She has done a variety of jobs, from working as a hospital tech, cleaning and sterilizing utensils from surgery, pathology and the morgue, to running her own graphic design firm, designing national food labels and directing television and radio commercials. IN 1996 SHE QUIT HER JOB as a public relations director to dedicate herself to writing a novel and getting published. To pay the bills, she refinanced her home, maxed out her credit cards and even took on a newspaper delivery route. TODAY, ALEX IS A NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR of psychological suspense novels.  Her Maggie O'Dell series, comprised of A Perfect Evil, Split Second, The Soul Catcher, At the Stroke of Madness, A Necessary Evil, Exposed and Black Friday along with her stand-alone novels, One False Move and Whitewash, have been widely praised by critics and fans. They have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. Her books have been published in twenty-four countries and have hit the bestseller lists in Australia, Germany, Poland, Italy and the UK.  She is also one of the featured writers in the anthology Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night, edited by James Patterson. ONE FALSE MOVE WAS SELECTED AS Nebraska's 2006 One Book One Nebraska.  (My Antonia by Willa Cather was the 2005 selection).  In 2007 Alex was awarded the Mari Sandoz Award by the Nebraska Library Association. Whitewash made January Magazine's list of best thrillers for 2007. Exposed,Black Friday and 2011's DAMAGED received starred reviews by Publishers Weekly.   2010 marked Alex's ten year anniversary as an author with the publication of her tenth novel, Damaged (Doubleday, July 13th). HOTWIRE, her ninth Maggie O'Dell will be released July 12th, 2011. She also has co-authored two short stories in anthologies to be published in June and August: First Thrills, edited by Lee Child (After Dark, co-authored with Deb Carlin) and Florida Heat Wave, edited by Michael Lister (A Breath of Hot Air, co-authored with Patricia Bremmer is now on KINDLE. ALEX WRITES FULL-TIME AND LIVES IN Omaha, Nebraska and Pensacola, Florida (where her 2010 book, Damaged is set).  She is a member of International Thrillers Writers.    

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    Reviews for Damaged

    3.5/5

    130 ratings32 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Damaged
      3 Stars

      Gives the impression that Kava was asked to churn out a book in a rush and this was the rather hurried result.

      The identity of the killer is revealed pretty early and his initial motivation is obvious. For some reason, his undergoes a personality change toward the end that has no real foundation instead of killing and carving up bodies for profit, he is suddenly bent on revenge against the Navy and turns into a raving psychopath and detracts from the overall storyline.

      That said, the plot revolving around the discovery of body parts in a fishing cooler is compelling and the idea of someone carving up people for their body parts is exceedingly creepy. The story ends a little abruptly and a more detailed explanation would have wrapped things up more coherently.

      As for being another installment in the Maggie O'Dell series, Damaged offers absolutely nothing in the way of character development or additions to Maggie's ongoing conflict with her new superior or her relationship with her half-brother, Patrick.

      Unfortunately, this series seems to be dying a miserable death.
    • 4/5
      Agent Maggie O'Dell is in the Florida Panhandle helping Homeland Security with a cooler of body parts found floating in the ocean. A Cat 5 hurricaine is on it's way and it's up to Maggie to find out who is missing and what happened!This book was my ER win for July that I just received in December. It was worth the wait! What an exciting thriller. It reminded me of why I love Kava's books. Her last book, Black Friday was just so-so for me and I feared that she was falling into the series funk. Damaged restored my faith in Kava's books.
    • 4/5
      If you are a fan of James Patterson, you will enjoy Alex Kava!
    • 3/5
      The book features profiler Maggie O'Dell and Coast Guard Swimmer Liz Bailey. The two women successfully challenge stereotypes in their respective careers. The impact of a hurricane and the mystery of floating body parts provides the setting for this compelling thriller. Having said that, I think Alex missed an opportunity to really dig into the psyche of Joe Black and open the story up more. The story was too focused on the struggle of the two women trying to fit into their male dominated fields and less on the plot. This was my first time reading Alex Kava, I have one other book of hers, she will really need to impress me on it for me to read her again.
    • 3/5
      Maybe I am reading too much or am distracted, but I had a hard time staying engrossed in the story line. I did love the charactors and their interaction with each other, I just did not care a whole lot what happened..I don't think I will rush to read another Kava novel....Now I am starting a story of whales, so hopefully it will save me...I also was lucky enough to win a members book that is about Hawaii so I am excited.
    • 2/5
      After waiting 6 months to receive this advanced reader's copy, I was still looking forward to reading this anticipated thriller by Alex Kava. Although I own a few of her books, I had still only read one short story by her that was in a compilation of stories by well known authors, and thought she was one to follow. This book, however, fell short of my high expectations.The story line initially sounded good.....a mysterious cooler with body parts found just off the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola Florida, just as a huge hurricane was quickly approaching. Even though the story was a quick and easy read, it was not particularly a substantial or "meaty" tale. The characters were not especially memorable. The ending was surprisingly abrupt and sudden, as if the author was tired of the story too, and decided to just "end it".This book made me reconsider ever reading any others by this author. I was especially surprised that it was not better because of the dust jacket notation by one of my very favorite thriller writers, Lee Child, who said....."Read this gripping, can't put it down thriller. O'Dell could be Reacher's long lost twin". I hardly think so. Maggie O'Dell was a forgettable main character in a mediocre story. I may give Alex Kava one more try in the future, but at this point, I am not impressed.
    • 5/5
      Maggie O'Dell is an FBI Profiler who is sent to Pensicola Beach Florida to investigate a cooler full of body parts, while a Category 5 hurricane bears down on them. Although there is not a serial killer that she is tracking there are plenty of thrills including some wild rides on the search and rescue helicopter. This is a must read for Alex Kava fans.
    • 5/5
      This was my ER win from July and I have to say the wait was worth it. I don't know if it was because I just read a very long and difficult book on the Tudor period or if I just needed a nice light read.Damaged is a novel about Maggie O'Dell, a criminal profiler for the FBI. I have watched the show Criminal Minds and know that I really enjoy the intricacies of the thought processes of criminals and how the profiler is able to conclude those thoughts.Maggie is recruited by a friend from the Department of Homeland Security, Charlie Wurth to help with profiling due to the discovery of a cooler with body parts in it. The cooler is found in the Gulf near Pensacola Beach Florida by the Coast Guard. The catch is that Maggie is going down to Pensacola when a hurricane is predicted to land in Pensacola.I found myself not wanting to put the book down. The chapters moved quickly and always wanting to know what would happen next. I read this book in less then one day.
    • 3/5
      It was a quick and fast-paced story and as always, I liked her characters. I liked the story overall, but was disappointed that it was not of the quality of her previous books. The ending in particular was abrupt and not well crafted.
    • 3/5
      There is a lot to like with this book.......great characters, plenty of action, interesting puzzle. However, the story would have been much better with additional development. There are very short chapters throughout and the pace accelerates until an abrupt ending. This is my first book in this series. While it was an incredibly fun desert, it left me wishing for a little more meat.
    • 4/5
      Damaged by Alex Kava (ARC) Published by DoubledayISBN 978-0-385-53199-3At the request of Doubleday, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion. Synopsis: FBI Special Agent and profiler, Maggie O'Dell, has been asked by friend and colleague Charlie Wurth, from The Department of Homeland Security to work with him on a special assignment in Florida. The coast guard had recovered a drum usually used by fisherman to preserve their daily catch, except in this particular drum, are human body parts carefully wrapped and appearing to be from multiple victims. Once Maggie has accepted this mission, Charlie then tells her there may be a bit of a glitch, Florida is in the path of a Category 5 hurricane. And why are soldiers who have had routine orthopedic surgery, in Florida, dying, Dr. Benjamin Platt, another friend of Maggie's is having a race against the clock. The time frame of the story takes place over a 5 day period but each minute is filled with suspense. My Thoughts and Opinion: This was not only the first, in what I understand to be one of seven (7) of Maggie O'Dell stories, that I read but also the first Alex Kava novel. This book was what I call "the just one more chapter" reads, whereas the chapters are only a few pages long and by the time you realize it, many chapters have been read. And add this twist into the mix...there were 3 different mini mysteries going on at the same time which were rotated every 3 chapters and then Ms. Kava weaves all 3 "stories" into one fast paced, heart racing and action packed ending. Without giving too much away and/or including any spoilers, all I can say is the way she describes certain scenes in this book, I found that I was holding my breath in sheer fear and anticipation. As I said, this was my first Alex Kava's Maggie O'Dell novels but it won't be my last. I have a lot of catching up to do. My Rating: 4
    • 5/5
      This book was great - a page turner right to the end - I love the Maggie O'Dell books by Alex Kava -
      if you love Alex Kava, then you need to get this book - finished it in a week. Giving this book 5 stars.
    • 1/5
      Damaged by Alex Kava was the first book I read in the Maggie O’Dell series and will also be the last. I thought there were too many dramatic circumstances thrown together at the same time (a hurricane, a murderer, an unidentifiable infection) that seemed completely implausible to me. But, none of these plots were developed enough to be intriguing on their own either. In addition, the characters weren’t developed, so I really didn’t have any stake in what happened to them. Typically, I like when you find out how characters are intertwined; however, in Damaged, these connections were also far fetched. The killer makes friends with the hot dog vendor who also happens to be the father-in-law of the killer’s helper and also happens to be the father of the rescue swimmer. There are way too many great mysteries out there to waste your time on Damaged.
    • 3/5
      Damaged started out well with a dramatic description of a Coast Guard rescue helicopter plucking a large cooler out of the waters off Florida. Unfortunately, that initial excitement quickly dropped to a rather slow pace. While I enjoyed the story and it was interesting, there were several storylines going on which never seemed to connect. The hurricane added interest as did the helicopter rescue scenes. Connecting two of the other stories seemed to be forced, but I don’t want to add any more because it would be a spoiler.Maggie O’Dell is a good character, but I just did not get a good idea of her personality or why she behaved as she did. There was a hint of a love interest for her, but it was really just a hint. Some of the other characters did not have enough depth to care about them. The other main female character failed to stand out, and the creepy funeral director was a too much of a stereotype.Although I did not find this one outstanding, it was interesting enough that I would like to try one of the earlier books in this series. In the end, not great but not bad either.
    • 3/5
      Kava is a good writer and I have enjoyed many of her previous Maggie O'Dell tales but this one was, literally, forgetable. Damaged was in my TBR pile and it was only when I picked it up and examined the maps that it rang a vague bell as the intriguing name 'Florida panhandle' once again caught my attention.Maggie is in Pensacola [only in America, sounds like some sort of soft drink] investigating a chest full of body parts the coast guard found out at sea - and at the same time Colonel Benjamin Platt, her love interest, is at the military base. Gulf war veterans are dying there and the place is in lock down - Maggie is unwelcome despite needing access to vital information.Whats more, a hurricane is heading their way - time to batten down the hatches or, better still, get out of town. naturally though Maggie stays to confront medical mishaps, sinsister and unethical undertakers and murder most foul. A huge dfisappointment, and the most memorable thing about the book was the maps.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Damaged by Alex Kava was the first book I read in the Maggie O’Dell series and will also be the last. I thought there were too many dramatic circumstances thrown together at the same time (a hurricane, a murderer, an unidentifiable infection) that seemed completely implausible to me. But, none of these plots were developed enough to be intriguing on their own either. In addition, the characters weren’t developed, so I really didn’t have any stake in what happened to them. Typically, I like when you find out how characters are intertwined; however, in Damaged, these connections were also far fetched. The killer makes friends with the hot dog vendor who also happens to be the father-in-law of the killer’s helper and also happens to be the father of the rescue swimmer. There are way too many great mysteries out there to waste your time on Damaged.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I found myself a bit disappointed in Kava's newest book, Damaged. I have been a huge Kava fan for a while now and have read every thing she has published. The plot didn't seem as well developed as other books she has written. While I love Maggie O'Dell as a character those characters surrounding her in this book didn't seem as well developed. I think the bottom line for me was that a heightened level of suspense was just not apparent in this book. Still a big fan and hope that the next one will be more in line with her past books.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      This is the first book by Alex Kava that I have read. And I have to say: I'm glad it was free. While the plot seemed nice enough, I didn't really like the way it read. I couldn't seem to get into it. I am a voracious reader. Usually it take me a day--two at the most--to read an author. But this book took me almost two weeks to get through. The one good thing about the book was Maggie. In short, it would not be a book I would buy. And I will probably not purchase another book by Alex Kava based on this book.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      This book was a disappointment for me. First, there are a lot of POV characters. None of these characters felt fully developed. Their stories eventually, sort of, tie together. In the meantime, it's exhausting to follow them all. The plot is all over the place. There is a lot going on in a kind of chaotic mess. None of it really pulls me into the story. Instead, I find myself being shoved in so many directions, so quickly, that I'm never allowed to plant my feet down in any one spot. In the end, I simply didn't care.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Damaged started out well with a dramatic description of a Coast Guard rescue helicopter plucking a large cooler out of the waters off Florida. Unfortunately, that initial excitement quickly dropped to a rather slow pace. While I enjoyed the story and it was interesting, there were several storylines going on which never seemed to connect. The hurricane added interest as did the helicopter rescue scenes. Connecting two of the other stories seemed to be forced, but I don’t want to add any more because it would be a spoiler.Maggie O’Dell is a good character, but I just did not get a good idea of her personality or why she behaved as she did. There was a hint of a love interest for her, but it was really just a hint. Some of the other characters did not have enough depth to care about them. The other main female character failed to stand out, and the creepy funeral director was a too much of a stereotype.Although I did not find this one outstanding, it was interesting enough that I would like to try one of the earlier books in this series. In the end, not great but not bad either.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      This was a quick read, short chapters with some fast-paced action. Didn't feel like it was much on substance though, nothing that got too deep, which may be a product of me picking up the latest book in series without the benefit of the previous seven books. It was entertaining though and I would be willing to read other books in the series -just not sure I'll go out of my way to do so.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Note: I have not received my early Reviewer copy; I read a copy from my library.Damaged is a page-turner of a story, but alas, much too short and with an abrupt, unsatisfying ending. Maggie must investigate body parts found floating in a cooler while a cat 5 hurricane approaches. Resolution comes more by coincidence than investigative work.. It seems that Kava rushed through this story.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      FBI agent Maggie O'Dell heads to Florida with a strong hurricane approaching Pensacola Beach. A cooler with body parts has been found. Several story lines merge to form the plot, but it's clear far too early in the plot who the bad guy is and unfortunately events toward the end are fairly predictable. The first 2/3 of the book is better than the remaining 1/3.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Maggie O'Dell doesn't exactly get along with her new boss and he doesn't exactly like her or so it seems so when she is needed in Florida where body parts are found floating in the Gulf Coast - she's sent - no worries about the Cat 5 hurricane heading her way. Meanwhile her friend Col Benjamin Platt also ends up in Florida to assist when the doctors at a military hospital are baffled by a slew of unexplainable sick soldiers - many who succomb to their illnesses. Of course, the two mysteries intertwine and bisect each other. I like that Platt has become a character in the novels, but has remained on the periphery. I'm not sure I want Maggie to become involved. I think a romantic entanglement will take away from the mysteries and the mysteries are why I read these novels.
    • 3/5
      A Coast Guard heilcopter finds a fisherman's cooler bobbing in the Gulf Of Mexico off the Florida coast. Expecting to find drugs, the officials are startled to find body parts.A massive hurricane is heading toward Florida. Maggie O'Dell, FBI profiler is asked to help with the case but she must go to Pensecola where the hurricane is heading.A number of soldiers returning from Afghanistan with lost limbs are now coming down with some toxic ailment after their surgery. A few of the soldiers have died and officials are looking for the cause.Undertaker Scot Larson has made an agreement with Joe Black so that Black could accept delivery and provide storage for some body parts Black would pick up for his doctors' conferences.The stories merge in a suspenseful manner. The imminent arrival of the hurricane adds to the suspense. Things need to be resolved before the storm which is now a Category 5 hurricane hits.Alex Kava does a professional job with this thriller. Maggie and Liz Bailey, a Coast Guard dive team member are intelligent, assertive characters who demonstrate excellent problem solving ability.Scot Larson is a bumbler. He adds a comic figure who seems lost with the approaching herricane and what has happened to his undertaking business.I took this book on vacation and enjoyed it thoroughly.
    • 4/5
      This was my first Maggie O'Dell mystery and probably not my last. Maggie is an FBI Profiler just off a rough case. In the first few pages she is brushing brain matter off her shoulders. She is being sent to Pensacola, just before a category 5 hurricane is about to strike, to investigate some body parts that have been found in a cooler floating in the Gulf. Her boyfriend is investigating the mysterious deaths of wounded U.S. servicemen. Their investigations are related and are played out against the backdrop of the impending landfall of Hurricane Isaac.
    • 4/5
      Great mystery. Couldn't put it down until it got close to the end. I thought it became predictable and a little slow. I would, though, recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      Maggie is called in to investigate a cooler of body parts found floating in the Atlantic. Just as she begins her investigation, Florida is hit by a Cat 4 hurricane.
    • 5/5
      From fantastic fictionOn Pensacola Beach, the Coast Guard prepares for a Category 5 hurricane that has entered the Gulf of Mexico. When the air crew patrols the waterways, they spot a huge fishing cooler about a mile offshore. Drug traffickers have been known to dump coolers with smuggled product to avoid detection and pay fishermen to retrieve them. But when the crew open this cooler, they're shocked by what they find: body parts tightly wrapped in plastic. Though she is putting herself in the projected path of the hurricane, Special Agent Maggie O'Dell is sent to investigate. Eventually, she's able to trace the torso in the cooler back to a man who mysteriously disappeared weeks earlier after a hurricane hit Port St. Lucie, Florida. Only Port St. Lucie is on the Atlantic side. How did his body end up six hundred miles away in the Gulf of Mexico?I really enjoy the Maggie O‘Dell novels and have read them all. This one is pacy as with all her others, but it lacks one thing. Nick Morelli. I have missed the on/off romance between Maggie and Nick. With each book in turn wondering if this is the one where they finally get it together. With Nick not in the book it is just another crime novel. So please Ms Kava bring back Nick !
    • 4/5
      A large fishing cooler filled with body parts is found off the Florida coast by a Coast Guard rescue swimmer and the Navy is investigating a mysterious illness infecting disabled Iraqi veterans. When the disease is traced to contaminated body parts used in surgical repairs, FBI profiler Maggie O'Dell is assigned to the case as a Category 5 hurricane is approaching the area. Eighth in the series. Maggie O'Dell is like a female Jack Reacher. A quick and entertaining read with a premise that could actually be all too true.