2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #2 discussion

The killer ended up being Ken Wallace’s stepson, Curtis, who was angry with the city for firing him and wanted to punish Ken for divorcing his mother. He forced Ken at gunpoint to shoot six innocent citizens and then brutalized him, leaving him a ditch for dead. Will Ken ever recover mentally and emotionally from this? Would they might’ve caught Curtis earlier if Conklin had used resources to find Ken?

??

The suspense plot had such potential right up until the revelation.
First, why didn't Ken just shoot Curtis (or even himself)? He had ample opportunity. I find it seriously hard to believe that Ken would just shoot innocent people, including children.

Second, the entire Conklin thing is ridiculous. Force needed him to behave this way for her plot to work and she ignored Conklin's prior characterization as being above reproach in order to do it. It's lazy.

I liked my plot better. The shooting were cover for the shooting of the Chemistry student who was doing top secret research that had security implications that foreign governments wanted stopped. It was a hit team and Sam and Nick get involved in CIA intrigue.

This was another one of Force's dumb cops story arcs. I don't like it. I agree with Lauren. There were so many ways she could have written this story. The one she selected is a fail. I don't know what will happen with Ken in the future.