An unnerving villain invigorates this dark, absorbing murder mystery.
An FBI profiler chases a methodical serial killer who gleefully taunts him in Byrne’s debut thriller.
Deke O’Brien is fresh out of rehab for his alcoholism. He had succumbed to the stress of his work at the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit as well as guilt over his son’s playground injury, sustained while under his care. Now he’s on a case, already underway: Someone has been sexually assaulting women at movie theaters after injecting them with a lethal dose of a paralytic drug. The “Movie Theater Killer” finds victims in various United States cities, but even DNA evidence and security footage have not led the authorities to any suspects. Then the killer begins texting and calling Deke, goading him with all he knows about the profiler, including details about his divorce. His derisive messages soon turn to threats against Deke’s family and others the profiler is close to. Much of this grim and intermittently violent novel unfolds like a procedural, as Deke and his partner, Louise D’Antoni, meticulously look over details on the murders to build a profile. This approach leads to some repetition, as they often reexamine what they know without any new information. The narrative periodically shifts to the killer’s perspective; his manner of seeking out victims and the development of his M.O. are very disturbing (“A lone female is sitting way up on the left, all by herself, in the second-to-last row. She looks youngish and attractive—exactly what he looks for”). His identity is kept from readers, who will be right alongside Deke trying to unmask the serial killer. Later in the story, a startling revelation puts readers ahead of the FBI; while that dampens the mystery, it also boosts suspense to know that Deke is closer to the killer than he realizes. The story closes with an exciting and gratifying final act.
An unnerving villain invigorates this dark, absorbing murder mystery.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9781954345980
Page Count: 318
Publisher: Rushmore Press LLC
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Although it lacks the surgical precision of Slaughter’s very best nightmares, this one richly earns its title.
More than a decade after a Georgia man is convicted of a monstrous double murder, an uncomfortably similar crime frees him and resets the search for the guilty party.
In Clifton County, home to the Rich Cliftons and the other Cliftons, the disappearance of teens Madison Dalrymple and Cheyenne Baker during the Halloween festivities hits everyone in North Falls hard. Working with her father, Sheriff Gerald Clifton, Deputy Emmy Lou Clifton hears the clock ticking down as she races frantically to get leads on the two friends, who’d been secretly plotting to take off for Atlanta after some undisclosed big score. As a longtime friend of Madison’s mother, Hannah, Emmy hopes against hope to find the missing teens before they’re both dead. By the time Emmy’s hopes are dashed, two unpleasantly likely suspects with strong attachments to underage sex partners have emerged, and one of them ends up in prison. In a bold move, Slaughter jumps over the next 12 years to the case of Paisley Walker, a 14-year-old whose disappearance catches the eye of retiring FBI criminal psychologist Jude Archer, who promptly crosses the country to come to Clifton County and take charge—um, that is, consult—on this heartrending new investigation. Emmy, suddenly and shockingly deprived of counsel from the parents who’ve supported her all her life, doesn’t get along any better with Jude than with the larger circle of Cliftons and the Clifton-Cliftons. But together they identify one new suspect, then another, before a shootout that arrives so early you just know there are still more surprises to come.
Although it lacks the surgical precision of Slaughter’s very best nightmares, this one richly earns its title.Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2025
ISBN: 9780063336773
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
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