Random by Craig Robertson

Title: Random

Author: Craig Robertson

Published: Feb 2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd

ISBN: 978 1847398819

Rating 5.5 with merits

The cover on this is desolate and a little creepy, mirroring the book itself.

The killer is very focused on what he wants and eagerly anticipates his next business card contact.  He tunes in and is very absorbed and good at filtering out what is going on around him when he wants to find out who his next random target is, and he’s very opinionated about the people he targets.  He also analysed serial killers from the past, such as Jack the Ripper.

I found this book oddly an attractive read – although it is morbid, I couldn’t stop reading.

The killer is self obsessed.  He thinks about every detail, every scenario and the way he sees himself from the eyes of the police is self serving.  He sees himself as someone who is welding power over both the police and the lives of victims.

The randomness of his killing spree is totally chilling.  As a reader I’m fascinated to know how the author came this far into the mind of a killer – as it seems so real and plausible.  A lot of it rings true (I’m an avid watcher of CSI, NCIS, Dexter etc).  I found some of the Scottish spellings and language took a little longer to get used to – this is the first time I’ve encountered Scottish colloquialisms

One part I found exceptionally chilling was when the killer explained his actions to his victim as he killed him, telling him what was happening to his body as he watches him die.  This reminded me of scenes from Bones, although that’s from post mortems rather than the killer/victim view.

A quote from Random:

“The darkness of the night and the blackness of my soul were strange and dangerous places to consider such things.  Maybe that was when I slipped into insanity but more likely it was desperation.”

Book synopsis:

Glasgow is being terrorised by a serial killer the media have nicknamed The Cutter. The murders have left the police baffled. There seems to be neither rhyme nor reason behind the killings; no kind of pattern or motive; an entirely different method of murder each time, and nothing that connects the victims except for the fact that the little fingers of their right hands have been severed. If DS Rachel Narey could only work out the key to the seemingly random murders, how and why the killer selects his victims, she would be well on her way to catching him. But as the police, the press and a threatening figure from Glasgow's underworld begin to close in on The Cutter, his carefully-laid plans threaten to unravel - with horrifying consequences.

Many thanks to the publishers, a copy was received in return for an honest review as part of their Facebook ‘Win a Free Book’ monthly promotion.