Review by Caryl Barnes

Windy City Review

July 31, 2014

Book Review: Khaki=Killer

Khaki=Killer.  Connie Corcoran Wilson.  Book 3 in The Color of Evil Series. Quad City Press: Moline, Illinois, 2013. 235 pages. Paperback and Kindle editions.

Khaki = Killer is the third and most recent book in this excellent paranormal thriller series for young adults. The three books focus on Tad McGreevy, an Iowa high school student, and his friends and enemies.  The characters are exceptionally well drawn. 

I received copies of all three books from the author in order to write this review and read them with enjoyment, interest, and a jumpy stomach at some of the suspenseful parts. Although I am 75, decades older than the intended audience, I recommend the books for adults, too.  The rollercoaster plot lines will grab everyone who likes thrillers.

A personal note:  I don’t know many teens at this stage of my life and especially appreciated Wilson introducing me to some great contemporary kids. Wilson has a vast wealth of teaching and writing experience, and it shows. It turns out that modern kids are not so different from me and my friends at their age! In the 50s most of us didn’t go as far with alcohol and sex as kids do now, but the risk-taking impulse was definitely there. Like them, we did what we could get away with plus a bit more.  Over Wilson’s three books I saw the teens grow and develop, making lots of mistakes, of course – that’s a crucial part of growing up – and also making brave and wise decisions.

From the first book forward, one of the plot lines concerns a purely evil character with a khaki aura.  It was fascinating to watch Tad struggle to overcome his terror of this horrible man who wants nothing more than to murder Tad.  Tad’s fear remains, as well it should, but he learns to face the fear in a hair-raising scene in Khaki.  

My favorite character was Stevie, Tad’s best friend. Stevie’s transformation from a miserable sexual victim of three men, a teacher, a principal, and a kidnapper, to a loving young man with guts and integrity was touching and entirely believable.  Wilson writes us inside her characters, even the baddies.

I learned something important as a reviewer from Wilson’s books which is to wait a couple of weeks to start writing about a book and see what has stuck with me.  It’s never the punctuation, grammar, spelling, and occasional factual errors I’ve noticed in the act of reading. Wilson has her share, as do I and most of the other authors I’ve read. What sticks with me from Wilson’s book is my wish to know more about her characters.  I think a fourth book in the series will be forthcoming; I hope so, and I won’t miss it.