Author: Will Carver
Publisher: Arrow
Published: 12 May 2011
ISBN: 978 0099551034
Will Carver's website
Rating: 3.5/5
The cover on this shows one of the poses the killer leaves a victim in, behind the number four on the cover.
This is a debut from a British author. From the Prologue I got a sense of exactly why Detective Inspector January David does his job, and the first chapter comes as a complete punch in the gut to him and makes the whole book and his search for the killer that more personal. Unusually, there are chapters in both the DI's point of view, the killer's and also each of the victims, which makes this an intense read, even if the victims don't have a lot to divulge.
Little by little we get to know the thoughts behind the DI's actions. He slowly comes to terms with the fact he has a very special, specific gift which gives him intimate knowledge on how each victim will be treated - a knowledge he shares with selected colleagues, just before the murderer sets January up.
DI January is soon to be married to his fiance who he has been living with for 2 years. They don't seem to communicate much, and both have very different goals. His relationships at work are based around the common goal of justice and finding the purps. He hasn't spoken to his father in over two decades, and his mother is in a hospital for mental disorder patients, so he considers himself an orphan up until his family crash into his world again in the book.
There are some fantastic twists in this which for the life of me I never would have guessed, and it was a compulsive read. The thing that made the book for me was the very well thought out misdirections. At the end I felt a bit deflated though, as although I had the rug pulled out from under me on more than one occasion, I didn't feel satisfied with the ending as it doesn't feel complete and dish justice out to all involved - I suspect that there will a be a lot of friction to come int the following books in the series. Hopefully the second in the series will see DI January David reevaluate and inspect closer.
Source - Library
1 comment:
I was hoping to see a review of this one because I keep coming across it.
Thanks for the review, I think I might try and get this one from the library too rather than buy it.
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