PSYCHOPATHIC

An unstable killer stalks a blind psychiatrist in Melby’s thriller.

Psychiatrist Faith Galloway lost her sight 10 years ago in a sky-diving accident on New Year’s Eve, an event that has left her with bad dreams ever since. Her life is thrown into chaos when a former patient of hers, the psychopathic Ronald Neyman—who was suspected by the police for involvement in the sky-diving accident—escapes a psychiatric facility and launches a murderous rampage that may lead directly to Faith’s doorstep. The task of corralling Neyman falls to grizzled FBI Agent Mark Brannigan and his rookie partner, who have trouble getting any answers out of Dr. Steven Jenkins, the Nobel laureate and medical director of the facility where Neyman was housed. “Ronald Neyman has a history of violent tendencies,” the doctor tells the agents. “He needs medication. The longer he goes without it, the more violent and unpredictable he’s likely to become.” Unbeknownst to the authorities, Jenkins has been conducting highly illegal experiments to find a coma cure—experiments that lead to the awakening, after 10 years in a coma, of Faith’s identical twin sister, Mira. With Mira now up and walking around, police are worried that both women may be targets of Ronald’s wrath. The reality is much more complex, however, and it will take the combined smarts of Brannigan and Faith to ensure the innocent make it to the next New Year’s Eve alive. Melby’s muscular prose adeptly builds tension in every scene, creating an atmosphere of suspense: “Faith slipped her shoes off and shuffled from the hardwood to the soft pile carpet, counting ten steps toward the kitchen before she banged her shin on the coffee table. The sharp pain jogged her mental map of the living area strategically organized to avoid obstructing her path from room to room.” The plot, however, is soap opera silly and has far more moving parts than it needs. This one will likely please Melby’s fans but may not win him any new ones.

An often exciting but credulity-straining psychological thriller.