Twisted River - Siobhán Macdonald

First line: "She would never have fit as neatly into the trunk of his own car."

In a day and age when house swapping has become commonplace, Siobhán Macdonald has found the ideal story concept to scare the bejesus out of her readers and make them think twice about that romantic Cameron Diaz Holiday.

Kate O'Brien, living in Limerick, Ireland, is running ragged. She teaches at the local college, but has recently turned down a promotion because it would require more time at work. As it is, she rushes home to be sure she's there for her son, Fergus. Fergus may be autistic, but Macdonald doesn't come straight out and say so. He is definitely bullied at school which weighs heavily on Kate and her daughter, Izzy. Izzy sacrifices a lot because of her brother's special needs, but she doesn't complain and she doesn't begrudge him anything. Fergus and Izzy's father, Mannix O'Brien, is occupied with secretive issues of his own that he's shared with his brother, but not his wife.

Hazel Harvey lives in an expensive Manhattan apartment with her dentist husband, Oscar, and their two children, Jess and Elliot. They appear to have an enviable life, but behind closed doors there are problems and secrets, and everything isn't quite what it appears to the outside world.

Kate and Hazel both decide that a family vacation is in order to help deal with the mounting stresses in their homes. So they take to the computer and research a house-swap for their accommodations. Kate wants to visit New York City because Fergus adores the movie King Kong. She can't believe her luck when she happens on Hazel's home in the listings. Hazel wants to visit Limerick because she emigrated from Ireland and hasn't been back to visit her homeland since.

Both families make their arrangements and set off for their vacations that will correlate with Halloween. What transpires befits the creepiest of haunting Halloween tales.

In her debut, Macdonald does an exquisite job of leading her readers by the noses and then throwing grand twists into the plot to catch them completely off guard. She plays off stereotypes to successfully muddy the plot waters and enhance the mystery. Be careful of drawing conclusions before reaching the end of Twisted River because Macdonald is likely to prove your conclusions wrong.

The suspense is well-developed to maintain intrigue and an eerie atmosphere consistently throughout the book.

The choice of a limited third person narrator allows Macdonald to share enough of the characters so readers can begin to develop ideas about them, but not enough to see their entire pictures. This works to help develop the suspense but it also highlights a theme of the novel: people are rarely who they first appear to be. Both family matriarchs end up guilty of assuming things about the other family without having the whole picture. And in Macdonald's world of Twisted River, that can be very, very dangerous.

Twisted River is available in trade paperback (ISBN: 9780143108436) from Penguin. It is also available as an unabridged audiobook (ISBN:  9781504686792), narrated by Alana Kerr Collins, Sile Bermingham, Gerard Doyle and Tom Taylorson, from Blackstone Audio.

  

   

Woman with a Secret - Sophie Hannah

First line: (from a internet dating site) "Are you looking on here because you're hoping to find something that stands out from all the dull one-line I-want-a-blow-job-in-my-hotel-room-type adverts?"

In Sophie Hannah's ninth Waterhouse and Zailer crime novel, Damon, Blundy, a controversial newspaper columnist, is found murdered in his home office. The scene is peculiar: Blundy's hands and feet were secured; a large knife sharpener is in the floor--used to knock the victim out but not kill him; "HE IS NO LESS DEAD" is painted on the wall in red paint; and a knife is taped to the victim's mouth, the packing tape covering both his mouth and nose causing him to suffocate. Simon Waterhouse is convinced all of these details are a message from the killer, but he just can't figure out what the message is.

Nicki Clements has a dirty little secret. She's managed to hide it from her family for years, but the murder of Blundy--a man she's never met--is about to rock her world in ways she never could have imagined.

Woman with a Secret started out a little disorienting for me as it hopped between an online advertisement, the narrator's perspective, a newspaper article and the crime scene investigation. The novel oscillates between these elements of the story but the very beginning leaves the reader discombobulated. Once the concept starts to meld, however, the story is captivating.

Hannah twists the plot like a pretzel. As soon as the reader feels that he/she has a firm grasp on the players and their roles, a new twist with an additional layer is added to the mix, making the novel that much more addictive.

Simon Waterhouse's quirky doggedness is endearing to everyone except Detective Inspector Giles Proust. But his sharp mind, intuitions and deductions are fascinating. He's not always correct and that helps to make him more believable, but he is always plausible which serves the same purpose.

Hannah's exploration of the psychological nature of her characters and their actions is eerie and gripping. Her ability to take the commonplace--online dating sites, opinionated journalists, unfaithful politicians--and mold it into a horrifically spellbinding scenario is astonishing.

Intelligent, complex and engrossing, The Woman with a Secret will easily steal readers' hours as they lose themselves in the mystery and the mayhem.

Woman with a Secret is available in hardcover from William Morrow (9780062388261) and as an unabridged audio (9780062350763), narrated by David Thorpe and Julia Barrie, from Harper Audio. Also note that this book was previously released in the UK as The Telling Error.

   

    

My review today is part of the TLC book tour for Woman with a Secret. Check the schedule to see what other bloggers are saying about this book.

Disclosure: I do some contractual work for one of the owners of TLC Blog Tours. My work with them does not obligate me to a specific kind of review. The reviews are still my own opinions and reflect only my thoughts on the novels. If you care to read more, you can find more information on my Disclosure page.

The Life I Left Behind - Colette McBeth

My review of Colette McBeth's The Life I Left Behind first appeared in Shelf Awareness for Readers. I am posting it today with their permission. Hope you enjoy.

First line: "The first thing he notices is the cold."

Colette McBeth follows up her debut novel, Precious Thing, with a suspense-filled mystery told from three women's perspectives: Detective Inspector Victoria Rutter, crime survivor Melody Pieterson and the spirit of murder victim Eve Elliot.

The paths of these women cross when Eve is found dead clutching a chain with a small birdcage pendant. Six years earlier Melody narrowly escaped the same fate--grasping a similar necklace--saved purely by the luck of a chance passerby. David Alden, the man convicted of Melody's attack, is out of prison and the prime suspect in Eve's murder. However, unbeknownst to Melody, who remembers nothing of her assault, Eve had been investigating the case in an effort to clear David of the heinous crime.

As DI Rutter and Melody pour through the investigation files Eve left behind, a tangled web of lies and deceit starts to unravel. David Alden's innocence becomes clear, meaning DI Rutter has to race to identify the true killer before he can finish what he started with Melody.

The Life I Left Behind is a spellbinding thriller with several strong plot twists that will likely have seasoned mystery readers second-guessing their early whodunit predictions. However, the novel is also a compelling look at the devastating psychological effects violent crime wreaks on everyone connected.

The role of DI Rutter is ultimately inconsequential to the overall story and focusing solely on Melody and Eve could have tightened the plot; still McBeth's sophomore novel is a captivating page-turner capable of stealing hours before readers ever notice they're gone.

The Life I Left Behind is available in hardcover (ISBN: 9781250041210) from Minotaur Books and as an unabridged audio download, narrated by Imogen Church, from Headline Digital.

Eyes on You - Kate White

First line: "The shoes had made a nasty dent in my paycheck, but I wasn't sorry I'd splurged."

Robin Trainer is on top of the world. She's just published a bestselling novel and she's the co-host of a successful cable talk show. But during a book party she discovers a nasty note someone has left in her purse:

"You evil little bitch. You'll get yours."

While the note bugs her, she's able to write it off as someone's jealous prank. That is until other frightening things start happening to Robin: book jackets torn through her author photo, a vandalized Barbie doll left in her office, sabotage to her make-up.

Robin is mentally evaluating everyone around her to figure out who has an ax to grind. And it's simultaneously throwing her back into a trauma from her childhood. The threats escalate and Robin feels the world closing in on her. Everything she's worked so hard for is falling apart and if she doesn't figure out who is threatening her, she may just end up dead.

Eyes on You isn't a new thriller plot concept--a mysterious someone sending the protagonist over a psychological bridge--but it is written engagingly and with a strong momentum. This is a great book to toss in your beach bag for some enjoyable reading this summer.

There is plenty of suspicion thrown around to all the characters to keep the suspense strong and the reader questioning the outcome. However, there were a few loose ends, leaving me wondering at the conclusion if they were on purpose or if the issues were simply forgotten. This also loosened up the plot as a whole.

Kate White paints an insider's look at New York City, especially among the city's well-to-do: glamorous apartments and office spaces, restaurants and shops. It's a realm of the city where you need to watch your back so you don't get stabbed or stepped on as someone else is trying to climb the ivory tower.

Eyes on You is a quick, fun read. It may not make any earth-shattering changes in the thriller realm, but when you crave something a bit lighter, Eyes may just fit that bill.

Eyes on You releases June 24th in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0061576638) from Harper. It will also be available as an unabridged audiobook (ISBN: 978-1483005102), narrated by Abby Craden.

My review is part of the TLC Book Tour for Eyes on You. I am kicking off the tour, so you can follow along with the remainder of the tour to see what other bloggers are saying about the book.

Disclosure: I do some contractual work for one of the owners of TLC Blog Tours. My work does not involve this tour or any other tour I would agree to be a part of here at the blog. Nor does my work with them obligate me to a specific kind of review. The reviews are still my own opinions and reflect only my thoughts on the novels. If you care to read more, you can find more information on my Disclosure page.

The Boy in the Woods - Carter Wilson

First line: "It was 1981 and we were twenty minutes away from the rest of our lives."

Tommy Devereaux is a successful thriller writer. His books have consistently featured female villains and his newest novel, The Blood of the Young, is more non-fiction than anyone realizes. His first chapter is the true story of Tommy's youth.

While out in the woods with his buddies Mark and Jason one day, Tommy encounters Elizabeth, a teen girl they've never met before. She shows up with Rade, a neighborhood boy several years younger than fourteen-year-old Tommy and his pals. Elizabeth entices the boys over and brutally murders Rade. The boys help to bury Rade and they never see Elizabeth again. Until the teaser for Tommy's book, The Blood of the Young, comes out thirty years later.

When Elizabeth re-enters Tommy's life and threatens to reveal his involvement in Rade's murder unless he writes his new book the way she wants the story told, his life is suddenly and horrifically turned up-side-down. He's now living the horror stories he's always written.

The Boy in the Woods is an intense, twisty plot full of red herrings and suspense. The female villain is a terrifying sociopath readers will delight in despising. And I found myself engrossed simply to understand her motivation. I feel that's the intention of author Carter Wilson, so readers can understand why Tommy chooses to write female villains throughout his career: it is a constant drive to understand the horror he experienced as a kid. It's something so foreign to him that he craves to understand it. And that's what will keep readers connected to the story.

A smaller but still very powerful element of the novel is the effect of Rade's disappearance. His body is never discovered and his family never has any answers about what happened to him.  Wilson's portrayal of Rade's father is unsettling in its authenticity.

Finally the presentation of the way this horrific act affects each of the three boys adds a layer of complexity to the novel. Each child witnessed the same murder, yet their reactions and subsequent development into adults differs so drastically. This is a book rich in character study.

The Boy in the Woods has a fast pace and a suspenseful soundtrack. Readers will be torn in their desire to turn pages fast but simultaneously proceed with caution because there's no telling what might happen next. Wilson doesn't shy away from his violence, but he also isn't gratuitous. Elizabeth is a deranged sociopath and he doesn't tiptoe around that, but he also doesn't luxuriate in graphic details. That said, those who avoid violence to children will probably want to skip this one due to Rade's murder. It happens on the page and is realistically disturbing.

The Boy in the Woods is available in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0727883858) from Severn House.

Under a Silent Moon - Elizabeth Haynes

A portion of this review first appeared as a review in Shelf Awareness for Readers, which you can see here. I am extending that review today as part of the TLC Book Tour.

First line: (following the first Dispatch Log) "In years to come, Flora would remember this as the day of Before and After."

Into the Darkest Corner author, Elizabeth Haynes, kicks off a new series as her protagonist Detective Chief Inspector Louisa Smith leads a murder investigation for the first time. The victim, a young woman savagely beaten to death on the property of a known human trafficker, led a promiscuous lifestyle that results in a suspect list of epic proportions. But forensic evidence uncovered at the scene points Smith and her team to a woman found dead at the bottom of the quarry.

At first glance the quarry victim appears to have taken her own life in a fit of drunken remorse; a closer investigation by Smith’s team indicates that may not be the case at all. They’ll need to filter through the town gossip, uncover secrets and irrevocably change lives in order to unearth the truth.

Haynes’ use of multiple perspectives enhances the suspense of the novel even though the culprit is evident long before the official reveal. The various points of view provide the reader with intimate connections to those characters, so while the murderer isn’t a surprise, the suspense builds more from discovering each person’s fate.

The careful precision with which Haynes crafts her characters results in a fascinating cast overall. The townspeople each have their questionable attributes, but they're also just likeable enough to lend a sense of intrigue. Characters readers don't care about can easily be tossed overboard or dismissed. But when there's a glimmer of a connection, it can spark emotion in the reader...even if that emotion is uncomfortable or disagreeable.

The murder plot is definitely the central element of the novel, but I found myself drawn to the relationships within the police department and look forward to where Haynes will take them in subsequent novels.

Haynes also employs case paperwork throughout the novel. Often overlooked in stories of police investigation—filling out paperwork isn’t very thrilling—her inclusion of official reports and interviews elicits a sense of authenticity and allows the reader to be inside the murder book, privy to the entire investigation. It also breaks up the novel as though chapters within chapters. In much the same way a periodic illustration might, the change in format stands out on the page and draws the eye.

Readers sensitive to graphic sexual content may want to skip this one, Haynes doesn't shy away from the unconventional and she doesn't shy away from detail. But fans of dark, psychological suspense should find much to enjoy Under a Silent Moon.

Under a Silent Moon is available in hardcover (ISBN: 9780062276025) from Harper.

My extended review today is part of the TLC Book Tour for Under a Silent Moon. You can learn more about Elizabeth Haynes and the complete tour at the TLC website.

Disclosure: I do some contractual work for one of the owners of TLC Blog Tours. My work does not involve this tour or any other tour I would agree to be a part of here at the blog. Nor does my work with them obligate me to a specific kind of review. The reviews are still my own opinions and reflect only my thoughts on the novels. If you care to read more, you can find more information on my Disclosure page.

Mind of Winter - Laura Kasischke

First line: "She woke up late that morning, and knew:  
Something followed them home from Russia.

Holly Judge and her husband Eric Clare overslept Christmas morning. As Eric dashed out the door to the airport to pick up his parents, Holly began the laborious process of preparing for a holiday and a house full of people.

Meanwhile, Holly and Eric's teen daughter Tatiana, who they adopted from Russia, is behaving strangely. She's ignoring her mother's requests for help, changing her clothes repeatedly and swearing at Holly. One minute she's kind and loving, the next she's angry and volatile.

With a snowstorm raging outside, all of the holiday guests are stranded and unable to make Christmas dinner. Eric has to detour to the hospital because his mother is acting confused and disoriented. So Holly's left alone to deal with Tatiana's tantrums until her husband can return. As the swinging door of Tatiana's emotions flips back and forth, Holly remembers the process she and Eric went through to adopt "Tatty" and the life they had once she came home to live with them.

But this Christmas, will Holly discover that more than just a beautiful baby girl came home from Russia with them?

Beware of this psychological thriller, it's addictive. Once you pick it up, you'll likely have a difficult time putting it down. The plot is bewitching and the characters are enchanting. Tatiana is Holly and Eric's fairytale princess, but this story is more in line with Grimm than Disney.

While I feel that the plot is loose and could have been tightened up significantly--detail often had a tendency to be redundant or excessive and the repeated use of parenthetical phrases pulled me out of the story--the foundation is a suspenseful, mind-boggling mystery. The alternation of present day with past memories slows the momentum of the plot down, so it's not especially fast paced, but it enhances the suspense and pumps up the reader's adrenalin levels.

Holly and Tatiana are engaging characters. The reader is closest to Holly as the story's narrator, but her depictions of Tatiana from their first encounter in Russia and throughout her childhood are endearing, starkly contrasting the brooding, erratic teenager tormenting her mother on Christmas. Holly helps the readers to fall in love with her daughter, just as she did, so they're invested in what's plaguing Tatty and how it can be resolved.

Holly is a sympathetic character. As she looks back on her journey to adopt and raise Tatiana, she identifies her faults and failures as a first-time mother, looking for ways she could have changed, been a better mother, so this Christmas day would have turned out differently. Who hasn't experienced regrets and can't identify with this feeling? As Holly learns throughout her day, hindsight is 20/20 and sometimes when we simply don't want to see what's right in front of us, we don't.

As the white pristine snow blankets the world outside her home, chaos rages inside Holly's world. So clear your calendar once you pick this one up because you aren't going to want to take a time out for anything until you discover exactly what followed Holly, Eric and Tatiana home from Russia!

Mind of Winter is available in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0062284396) from Harper. There is also an unabridged audiobook version (ISBN: 978-1482992670), narrated by Justine Eyre available from Blackstone Audio.

My review of Mind of Winter is part of the TLC Book Tour. You can see what other bloggers are saying about the novel, by visiting the tour site for a complete list of tour participants. And you can learn more about Laura Kasischke at her website.

Disclosure: I do some contractual work for one of the owners of TLC Blog Tours. My work does not involve this tour or any other tour I would agree to be a part of here at the blog. Nor does my work with them obligate me to a specific kind of review. The reviews are still my own opinions and reflect only my thoughts on the novels. If you care to read more, you can find more information on my Disclosure page.

The Magic Circle - Jenny Davidson

First line: "YOU: the most junior reporter at the New York Tribune."

Ruth, Lucy and Anna are a circle of friends who develop an unusual obsession with live-action, role-acting games. Ruth has made this her career passion and is working on a game "Trapped in the Asylum" for the college campus where she is working. Lucy is Ruth's roommate and at first the most reluctant to be involved in these role-acting games. Anna lives down the hall from Lucy and Ruth. She's a Danish sociologist in New York to study cultures of urban exploration and she presents herself as fearless.

When Anna begins to take a special interest in Ruth's games and her brother shows up unexpectedly, the group develops a game around Euripides' tragedy The Bacchae. As the game becomes more intense, the stakes continue to rise.

Ruth explains that the "magic circle" is "just a way of talking about the amoeba-shaped space of play, one that's distinctly demarcated from the ordinary world outside. Whatever happens within the magic circle is fundamentally discontinuous with the external world." But what happens when the magic circle stops being discontinuous and begins to bleed into the external world?

Jenny Davidson has a great underlying concept for her story in this novel. She attempts creative ways of telling the story with unreliable narrators. Her characters are highly intelligent women who become wrapped up in a "game" readers would assume they knew better than to engage in. But this simply illustrates a magnitude that can exist when intelligent people get lost in the energy. Think of the brilliant people who allude the authorities as serial killers or those that take control of their governments and wreak havoc. The young adult book The Wave is a true-life example of how otherwise smart individuals become consumed not only with power but the sense of belonging, the sense of order. And World War II is probably the most mortifying example of it. Davidson seems to be aiming at both a psychological and intellectual game through these characters.

I did not, however, feel that her approach to telling the story created a tight, cohesive plot. I often found myself thinking, "where is she going with this" then never being able to answer the question. And at times I felt the poetic language was weighing down the story instead of moving it along--it looked nice but wasn't functional. The novel itself is not long, coming in at under 200 pages, but I felt there was a significant amount that could have been cut without damaging the heart of the story.

One of my aims when I read a novel is to figure out what I believe the author's goal was with the story. I don't think I was able to fully realize this in The Magic Circle. And that may be my fault as a reader--possibly having expectations that I should not have--and it may be Davidson's fault as the writer in not making that recognizable. The only real judge for that is other readers. This wasn't a book that blew my skirt up, but it may be just your cup of tea.

My review is part of the TLC Blog Tour. You can get an idea of what the other readers on the tour thought of The Magic Circle. The full schedule is listed here.

The Magic Circle is available in trade paperback (ISBN: 978-0544028098) from New Harvest and an unabridged audiobook version (ISBN: 978-1469282855), narrated by Emily Beresford from Brilliance Audio.

Disclosure: In recent months I have begun doing some contractual work for one of the owners of TLC Blog Tours. My work does not involve this tour or any other tour I would agree to a part of here at the blog. Nor does my work with them obligate me to a specific kind of review. The reviews are still my own opinions and reflect only my thoughts on the novels. If you care to read more, you can find more information on my Disclosure page.

A Quiet Vendetta - R.J. Ellory

First line: "Through mean streets, through smoky alleyways where the pungent smell of raw liquor hangs like the ghost of some long-gone summer; on past these battered frontages where plaster chips and twists of dirty paint in Mardi Gras colors lean out like broken teeth and fall leaves; passing the dregs of humanity who gather here and there amongst brown-papered bottles and steel-drum fires, serving to tap the vein of meager human prosperity where it spills, through good humor or diesel wine, onto the sidewalks of this district...

Chalmette, here within the boundaries of New Orleans."

Catherine Ducane, the Louisiana governor's daughter, is kidnapped and her body guard brutally mudered. The man professing to have kidnapped her says he will turn himself in and reveal her whereabouts but only under specific circumstances. Ernesto Perez wants to tell his story, and he wants to tell it to Ray Hartmann, a homicide detective in New York City.

Ray Hartmann has no idea why Ernesto Perez has singled him out. To the best of his knowledge, Hartmann doesn't know Perez. And what's worse, Hartmann is trying to fix his relationship with his estranged wife and daughter and he's scheduled to meet them. However, when the governor of Louisiana says, "jump," the FBI says, "how high?" So Hartmann is flown to Louisiana to receive Ernesto Perez and spend days listening to him tell his life story.

Perez tells about a life of crime as a hit man. He reveals his very first murder as just a young child, and how he went on to work for crime families and live in various places from Cuba to California. Hartmann and the FBI listen patiently in hopes of catching a clue as to who this mysterious man is and what he's done with Catherine Ducane.

In R.J. Ellory's trademark fashion, he has written an atmospheric novel of crime and passion. He develops layers of plot that weave in and out, leading the reader in unknown directions only to bring them back to a grand conclusion. In this unabridged audiobook edition of A Quiet Vendetta, narrator Donald Corren has a firm grasp on Ellory's atmosphere and expresses it through his pacing and cadence. Corren also pulls in the easy, laid-back mannerism of the South, and specifically Louisiana.

Even more so than A Quiet Belief in Angels, A Quiet Vendetta is an epic novel. Perez takes Hartmann through major events in U.S. history like the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. But he also takes Perez through his personal life. His experiences, his friendships and business relationships, his marriage and family. And there were points in the mid-section of the novel where Perez's story seemed to drag and the momentum of the novel shifted down. However, this works to give the reader the same reaction Hartmann would have been feeling, waiting desperately for Perez's story to end so he could return to NYC and repair his own personal life.

The cast in this epic novel provided Corren with a challenging array of dialects to turn on and off. From Cuban to Southern American to Italian American, even some Irish American and Northern American dialects. And Corren navigated through them with an ease that made it sound simple. He portrayed the young as well as the old, the male as fluidly as the female. It is evident through this audio that Corren has an appreciation for the story, characters and atmosphere Ellory is presenting in A Quiet Vendetta.

While I predicted the ending in advance, the desire to know how it all played out, combined with the sheer entertainment of the narration kept me entranced. Then seeing the complete arc at the end of the tale brought to light the grandness of the entire novel.

If you enjoyed A Quiet Belief in Angels, then A Quiet Vendetta is a must-read or a must-listen. Because of the richness Corren brings to this novel through his narration, this is an audio I will be recommending to others. The one factor to keep in mind, however, is the 20 hour length of the audio. It's a time commitment, but well worth it.

A Quiet Belief in Angels is available on unabridged audio from Blackstone Audio (ISBN: 9781270826789) or in hardcover (ISBN: 9781590205082) from Overlook Press.

The One I Left Behind - Jennifer McMahon

First line: "It began with the hands."

Reggie Dufrane is a highly esteemed architect. She's at the top of her game, recently named one of the top green architects in the Northeast. She also has commitment issues. Her relationship with her "boyfriend" is one involving no strings; her relationship with her aunt is one involving no face-to-face contact. Her relationship with her mother ended abruptly in 1985 when Vera Dufrane was kidnapped by a serial killer and presumed dead. The killer, Neptune, would sever the right hand of his victims and leave it on the steps of the police station. Then several days later, the body would be found. In Vera's case the hand arrived on the steps of the station house, but her body was never found.  That is until 2010 when a social worker from Massachusetts calls to inform the Dufrane family that Vera is there, very much alive. She's been in and out of homeless shelters, living under an assumed name, but she's finally admitted who she really is. The re-emergence of Vera is traumatic enough, but her return also signals the return of Neptune. And Neptune is out to kill again.

A complex novel blending well-crafted suspense and deliciously rich characters, THE ONE I LEFT BEHIND is a spell-binding read. Jennifer McMahon weaves in several red herrings making the outcome unpredictable. But in addition, she spins a story of the lives of her characters that is so engrossing, the reader isn't focused on outsmarting the author, the reader is focused on the relationship he/she is building with these new friends.

McMahon's language is graceful and endearing. The perspective alternates chapters between a young, impressionable child and an older, hardened adult. Either perspective is delivered as though McMahon were telling her own story. The dialogue is seamless and the observations and thoughts are astute.

This is my first experience reading McMahon, and I'm terribly excited to have finally discovered her work. Any fans of psychological thrillers should make it a point to pick this book up, but also any fans of strong character-driven plots. The characters are quirky in such a way as to deliver a message that we are all dysfunctional in some way. And they are quirky in such a way as to make them empathetic and endearing.

The only comment I would make on this book that might lean toward negative is connected to the cover. While I think the cover is stunning and evocative, when I went to find more of McMahon's work, I found that all of her covers looking frighteningly similar. And for stand alone novels I wonder if that might lead some readers to insinuate that the novels are all essentially the same. I hope it doesn't cause anyone to pass over THE ONE I LEFT BEHIND. That would be a sad outcome.

THE ONE I LEFT BEHIND is available from William Morrow in trade paperback (ISBN: 9780062122551). An unabridged audio version (ISBN: 9780062204837) is also available from Harper Audio, narrated by Julia Whelan.

LET THE DEVIL SLEEP - John Verdon

First line: "She had to be stopped."

Dave Gurney is recovering from the gunshot wounds inflicted at the end of Shut Your Eyes Tight. One of the non-physical results of those wounds is a need to feel protected. He's started carrying a gun again, something he hadn't done since he retired from the police force. Another non-physical result is staying secluded, almost cooped up, so when a journalist friend calls asking for a favor for her daughter, he's hesitant to help. The friend's determination and his wife's encouragement result in Dave listening to what the daughter has to say.

Kim Corazon's college project was so well-received by her professor that he passed it along to a contact at RAM TV and they want to produce it. The project is a reality TV show about the effects of unsolved murder on the children of victims. Kim has decided to focus her project on the victims of The Good Shepherd, a unsolved serial murder case from ten years ago. Kim wants Dave to look over her shoulder and make sure she's doing all the right things in regards to the case. But she also would like Dave to look into some odd harassment-type events that have been occurring and that she believes her ex-boyfriend is responsible for. 

Dave is resistant to help, but as he begins to research the case and look into the odd events, things aren't adding up. Dave can't just leave the questions hanging, he has to get to the bottom of things. But the bottom of these things may very well be deadly.

Let the Devil Sleep, John Verdon's third book featuring retired NYPD homicide detective Dave Gurney, moves a little slower than the previous two books. This time Dave isn't in the midst of a current case so much as he's digging up the dirt of a cold case.  So instead of starting off with a baffling murder, the background is coming out as current events take place. But that is not to say the book is a disappointment by any means, it simply means Verdon's changed up his approach to the plot. Let the Devil Sleep is just as addictive as its two predecessors. Readers will find Verdon a little more subtle about his hook this time around, and they won't be able to pinpoint as easily when they realized they simply couldn't put the book down.

Where Let the Devil Sleep does match up with its predecessors is in the rich mystery of the story. The limited perspective the reader is exposed to keeps the suspense building. While the book is written in third person, the perspective is still limited to Dave Gurney's; the reader only knows and sees what Dave does. However, even that perspective is limited as often Dave will be thinking things the reader isn't given access to, compounding the suspense. Let the Devil Sleep revolves around another superbly crafted plot.

Let the Devil Sleep also ventures into the relationship between Dave and his son, Kyle, who has not played a major role in either of the previous novels. Verdon draws some parallels as Kim investigates the children of victims and Dave is examining his own father-son relationship with Kyle, as well as looking back on the relationship he had with his father.

The relationship Dave shares with his wife Madeleine is a peculiar relationship, and I often found myself thinking, "she would drive me crazy." She encourages Dave to participate in investigations and then ends up angry about his involvement. At times she seems to be an inconsistent character. And still, she's a very stabilizing force for Dave. He is a character who is in search of his identity - now that he can no longer identify himself as a homicide detective - and so his relationships with others often reflect his own uncertainty.

I was thrilled to be asked to participate in this blog tour because I discovered Verdon's debut novel, Think of a Number through a TLC blog tour. I was blown away by that novel and each since. I look forward to the release of a new mystery from John Verdon, and Let the Devil Sleep continues the trend. Verdon writes stories that invade your psyche; apropos for the title, Let the Devil Sleep invades quietly and before you know it, it's 4 in the morning and you still have to read "just one more chapter!"

Let the Devil Sleep is available from Crown Publishers in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0307717924); it is also available from Dreamscape Media as an audiobook (ISBN: 978-1611209037), narrated by Robert Fass.

You can read additional reviews of Let the Devil Sleep by other participating bloggers on the tour. See the complete list at the TLC website. You can also follow John Verdon on Facebook and learn more about him and his books at his website.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to give a copy of Let the Devil Sleep to a lucky reader. And several questions came to mind to use with this giveaway, but I decided that since Think of a Number was my favorite debut novel back in 2010, let's hear what your favorite debut novel is this year - so far. And if you haven't read a debut this year yet, tell us what your favorite debut novel ever was. That way the responses can give others some book to check on.

To be eligible, you must have a US or Canada mailing address, leave an email I can contact you with if you win and respond on or before Friday, August 3rd (oh my goodness, where did the summer go?).

BLOODMAN - Robert Pobi

First line: "Two hundred feet below the rolling metal surface of the Atlantic, a handful of ghosts skittered along the ocean floor in a jerky seesaw roll, furling and unfurling in a diluvial ballet."

In his debut novel, Robert Pobi has created a stunningly beautiful and mercilessly terrifying thriller.

FBI Special Agent Jake Cole has returned to tend to the affairs of his estranged father, the famous American painter, Jacob Coleridge. Coleridge, in what doctors believe to be an Alzheimer-induced state of delusion, set his hands on fire and went barreling out his plate glass window. Intent on simply getting his father into an assisted facility and getting back to his life in New York, his plans are waylaid when he receives a call from the local police chief.

Two bodies have been discovered in a rental home up the beach. When the police chief called the FBI they informed him that Jake Cole was actually in the area. Jake is a specialist in the area of murder; he has talents most don't understand and attribute to psychic abilities. But in reality he has an eidetic memory - a photographic memory - and the local police are going to need help on this homicide. The two victims found were skinned alive. As if that wasn't enough, the Hurricane Dylan is headed straight for them with the potential for destruction unlike anything they've seen before.

BLOODMAN may have readers leaving all the lights in the house on while they read, but the extra bump on the electric bill will be worth it. You aren't going to want to miss this one. While the crimes are horrific, the book is not a gory, graphic horror novel. Pobi writes like a seasoned veteran; he gives little in the way of graphic detail, instead leaving most of the abomination up to the imagination of the reader.

Pobi does give the reader incredible imagery in other elements of the story. Having chosen to write about a painter, he's able to put that imagery to use in fantastic ways throughout the novel.  The opening sentence is a great example of his use of imagery. As is his character development:

"Instead of a Kevlar vest and a riot helmet, he protected himself with a carefully tailored personality shield positioned to prevent the soft parts of his psyche from being damaged. Before Jake walked into a murder scene, he wrapped parts of himself up and put them in a secure area of his mind so they wouldn't be part of a process that both repulses and fascinated him."

"It was as if he had a keyring in his pocket, only most of the keys just opened ugly places that he had to stop visiting because they were starting to feel too much like home."

"Somewhere in the decaying apple of his father's mind was a worm of a thought that the old man listened to. It had wriggled through his skull, sending him instructions that he deciphered in his own way."

The characters are truly distinctive. From the paranoid Jacob Coleridge who keeps sod in his refrigerator, to the FBI Special Agent who is tattooed with Dante's Inferno over his entire body, all the way down to minor supporting characters, including an autistic child who recreates images like they're puzzles. And as with most actual people, each character has unlikeable traits, but each character also has sympathetic traits. The question that builds the suspense, though, is which character is capable of these diabolical crimes.

Pobi's development of the storm is artistically-crafted to give Dylan anthropomorphic characteristics and multiple layers of significance in the plot. Symbolism and allusion are two of Pobi's strongest tools in his writing tool chest; readers looking for extra depth in their books will find exactly that in BLOODMAN.

Another shining element in this dark thriller is Pobi's use of humor. It often comes out of nowhere and does nothing to detract from the dark, heavy tone of the novel. BLOODMAN would still be an incredible novel without the humor, but the inclusion gives it a little bonus flavor:

"Of all the detritus, the Charger moved the slowest, tumbling over and over on its side, one door gone, the lights somehow still glimmering like the eyes of a dying robot. Barbie moved quickets, staying upright with the help of her buoyant plastic injection-molded breasts and the bubble of air trapped in her ancient, empty head."

Finally, a thriller is not a quality thriller without a fast-paced, suspenseful plot. Pobi achieves this through unforeseen plot twists, flashbacks, changes in perspective and subtle red herrings. He plants clues and plays fair with the reader, but BLOODMAN is a story where most readers won't realize the clues until the whole story has unfolded. BLOODMAN at its core is a stellar mystery.

No one should be surprised if this book shows up on my end of the year favorites list. I'm looking forward to what Pobi will come up with next!

BLOODMAN  is available in hardcover (ISBN: 978-1612182605) and trade paperback (ISBN: 978-1612182131) from Thomas & Mercer. It is also available on audio (ISBN: 978-1455842094) from Brilliance, narrated by Luke Daniels.

THE OTHER WOMAN'S HOUSE - Sophie Hannah

My review of The Other Woman's House appeared in Shelf Awareness. I am reprinting it here with their permission.

First line: "I am going to be killed because of a family called the Gilpatricks."

Connie Bowskill logs onto a real estate website in the wee hours of the night after her husband is asleep. She is obsessed with a house in Cambridge and it has gone on the market. When she clicks on the virtual tour, she is mortified to see a dead woman lying in a pool of blood. She immediately summons her husband, but when he opens the virtual tour, there is no dead woman. Connie is determined to find the answer to this mystery because she isn’t crazy, she saw a dead woman. But her obsession with the house and with the mysterious dead woman may cost her everything.

Sophie Hannah (The Wrong Mother) employs vivid imagery and suspense to build a haunting atmosphere that envelops the reader. While the novel is set in England, it isn’t difficult to imagine the same scenario in your own neighborhood, making the reading experience that much more intimate.

The Other Woman’s House, progressively brings into focus a distorted world created by obsession. Alternating between first and third person points of view helps to keep the images blurry for the reader, knowing enough to make out shapes but not enough to clearly recognize what’s lying beneath the surface.

The Other Woman’s House produces a fascinating phenomenon similar to watching an accident. The darkness of a sick mind is chillingly terrifying, but readers will likely find it difficult to tear themselves away from the book until they reach the conclusion.

The Other Woman's House is available in trade paperback (ISBN: 978-0143121510) from Penguin Books. 

GONE GIRL - Gillian Flynn

First line: "When I think of my wife, I always thing of her head."

Nick Dunne was a young magazine journalist in New York City when he met his wife Amy. Amy was also a writer. She wrote psychological quizzes for magazines. You know, the kind you find in Cosmo asking you how you would respond in a hypothetical situation and your answer is a reflection of your personality. Amy is also the daughter of a hugely famous writing husband and wife team who made their fortune and fame writing a children's series called, "Amazing Amy."

Amy came from a privileged background and Nick was a handsome, charming, ambitious young man from the Midwest. But neither Nick's charm, nor Amy's privilege could save them when the publishing industry started to fail and they both lost their jobs. Then when Nick's mother was diagnosed with cancer, he and Amy moved back to his small hometown in Missouri.

On the day of Nick and Amy's fifth wedding anniversary, Nick came home to find the door open, the cat on the front porch and his wife gone. The iron was left on and there appeared to be a struggle in the living room. When the police begin investigating, the skeletons start tumbling out of the closet.

Before you open up GONE GIRL, check your expectations, pre-concieved notions and theories at the door. Gillian Flynn will challenge everything you think you believe as you read this addictive psychological thriller. GONE GIRL alternates between Nick's recounting of the criminal investigation as it happened and Amy's diary entries preceding her disappearance. I began to recognize a story line as "ripped from headlines" and just as I became confident, cocky about figuring the book out early, Flynn "ripped" the rug out from under me.

In addition to placing perfectly timed twists in the plot, Flynn builds up the reader's passion for characters - passions both good and bad. Then she challenges what the reader thinks he/she knows. Appearances can most definitely be deceiving and piece by piece Flynn tears away at the security of certainty. After the first major plot twist, I found myself bracing the rest of the novel, waiting for just about anything to happen.

GONE GIRL runs over 400 pages, but readers will find the end far sooner than they expect; fear not, though, the story will linger in readers' minds for days afterward. It's haunting, it's dark and it's deliciously wonderful.

I have no doubt that Gillian Flynn will go down as one of the great crime writers of this generation. She is a natural story-teller and knows precisely how to hook her readers. She sets the bar far beyond what most will ever reach. It's story-tellers like her that cause readers to be disappointed in decent books. Once you've experience exceptional, it's hard to settle for less.

GONE GIRL is certain to be among my favorite reads of 2012.

GONE GIRL is available in hardcover (ISBN: 9780307588364) from Crown Publishers. It is also available from Random House Audio as an unabridged audiobook (ISBN: 9780307990402) narrated by Julia Whelan and Kirby Heybourne. Random House Audio had this excerpt available so I thought I'd include it for my fellow audiobook fans:
My review is part of the TLC Book Tour for GONE GIRL and I'm very excited to have the opportunity to give a copy of this great book away. So if you would like to put yourself in the running, just answer my psych quiz in the comments section (be sure I can email you if you win). Here it is:

You are going to your favorite bookstore today, do you:
a.) go with no idea what you're going to buy but you'll ask the employees for a good recommendation
b.) go knowing the owner has already set aside a new recommendation for you because he/she ALWAYS has one at the ready for you - afterall, you're on a first name basis with him/her
c.) head directly for the bestseller shelf and grab the NYT #1 book for this week
d.) take your wish list that's a mile long and spend three hours trying to figure out which new books you'll take home

Winners must have a mailing address in the US or Canada and it cannot be a P.O. Box. Sorry folks. I'll take responses until Sunday at midnight (Eastern) and I'll draw a winner on Monday.  If you'd like to see what other bloggers on the tour thought about GONE GIRL, check out the TLC website for the complete list of participating bloggers.

Happy Reading!

Into the Darkest Corner - Elizabeth Haynes

First sentence: "As far as days to die were concerned, the longest day of the year was as good a day as any." (Note: this follows a court transcript, so it's not technically the first sentence, but it's the first sentence of prose.)

Catherine Bailey is a young, carefree woman out clubbing with her friends when she meets the tall hunky Lee Brightman policing the VIP entrance at one of the clubs. She's pleasantly surprised when Lee shows an interest in her and soon they're spending a lot of time together. Lee's job at the club is just a side gig, Catherine learns. He's helping out a friend; his regular job involves undercover work and he leaves for days at a time and doesn't talk about the work. Catherine's friends all envy her fortune at finding such a wonderful guy. But Catherine soon learns Lee isn't as wonderful as he leads everyone to believe. His behavior morphs into controlling, violent actions against Catherine. As she tries to figure out how to escape this threatening relationship, her friends seem to turn against her...

Four years later, Lee is in jail and Catherine is going by Cathy, living far from her former home. Everyday she must check the doors, windows and silverware tray - obsessively. When she comes home from work she has to check them again. Everywhere she goes she thinks she sees Lee. She can only shop on certain days; she has to drink her tea at specific times; and she varies her route home from work every day so no one can discern a pattern to her route. Panic attacks have become a regular part of her life, but it's a life she controls and understands. So when psychologist Stuart Richardson moves into the flat above hers and encourages her to work on letting go of the obsessive behaviors, the safe bubble she's worked so hard to keep herself in pops, and Cathy discovers it's o.k. until she receives a call on Christmas Eve informing her Lee has been released from jail...

Into the Darkest Corner is written in alternating flashback scenes and present day. Elizabeth Haynes simultaneous shows Catherine's life falling apart as Cathy's life is coming together. When those two time periods collide, Cathy/Catherine experiences an explosive change. This plot effect works brilliantly at building suspense, keeping the reader turning pages with a perverse interest: you desperately want to know what happens but at the same time you're terrified to know. In your head you'll hear the music movies play to build anxiety in the audience. Similarly, Catherine never knew what to expect when Lee would come through her door either. So Haynes puts the reader in Catherine's shoes through this effect as well.

One of the most fascinating elements of this book is the way Haynes details the progression of the abusive relationship and helps the reader to see that just walking away, like so many people insist abusive victims should do, is not always as easy as we'd like to believe. And Haynes developes Lee's character so articulately as the chameleon that the handsome, charming police officer is far scarier than any horror villain with a chainsaw or hockey mask.

99% of this novel is stellar and Haynes shows exceptional promise as a psychological thriller writer. My only disappointment was the ending. Without giving any spoilers, I simply felt that the novel runs out of steam and the end kind of falls off. The energy and power of the novel all the way through didn't seem to match the end. Despite that, I would highly recommend people check out Into the Darkest Corner. This debut novel kept me up literally all night long, and the reading experience was well worth the 400 pages.

Into the Darkest Corner is available in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0062197252) from Harper starting June 5, 2012.

My review is part of the TLC Blog Tour. I encourage you to check out what some of the other bloggers on the tour have to say about Into the Darkest Corner. You can find links to their sites here.

THE WHISPERER - Donato Carrisi

If you missed my review of THE WHISPERER previously published by Shelf Awareness, today I am re-posting it here with their permission.

First line: "The big moth carried him along, moving by memory through the night."


Donato Carrisi’s debut thriller isn’t for the faint of heart, but it is most definitely for the connoisseur of fine fiction. A race to find the monster that has kidnapped and murdered five young girls, leaving only their arms behind, creates the foundation of the plot. A sixth arm is uncovered but forensic evidence indicates the child is still alive. From there Carrisi weaves in the psychological exploration of the investigative team: criminologist Goran Gavilia, missing person’s specialist Mila Vasquez, homicide investigator Sarah Rosa; they all harbor secrets that work to waylay the investigation and build the suspense of the novel.

Carrisi carefully and effectively toggles the point of view between a limited third person vantage point, an unknown first person perspective and a series of prison reports. This alternating frame of reference helps Carrisi to catch the reader off-guard with well-crafted plot twists that fuel the book’s intensity.

The translation of this novel is a bit awkward and inconsistent at times, causing the reader to possibly question location or experience a stiffness in dialogue. But aside from these types of small details, The Whisperer is a hauntingly exciting, graphically thought-provoking psychological thriller.

Start this one early in the day, you won’t want to put it down and you won’t want to turn out the lights. Carrisi is setting the bar of excellence high right off the bat in 2012.

The Whisperer is available in hardcover (ISBN: 978031619472) from Mulholland Books and on audio (ISBN: 9781611133547) from Hachette Audio, narrated by Carol Monda.

DOMINANCE - Will Lavender

My review of Will Lavender's phenomenal thriller DOMINANCE appeared last week in Shelf Awareness. With their permission, I am reposting it here today. If it's not already, this one needs to be in your MUST READ pile!

First Line: "The Jasper College Faculty Board has approved a controversial night class on a vote of 5 to 4."

Alex Shipley is a professor at Harvard when she’s summoned back to her alma mater, Jasper College, for a murder investigation. Fifteen years earlier Alex and her classmates participated in a night class taught by Professor Richard Aldiss from his prison cell. Aldiss was convicted of murdering two college students, but through Alex’s investigations in the course of the class, she cleared Aldiss of murder. But now there’s another murder, could Aldiss have actually been guilty?

Will Lavender unfolds his puzzling thriller by alternating between 1994 and the present, telling the story through the limited third person perspective of Alex Shipley. By alternating the time periods, Lavender is able to build the suspense, creating cliffhangers and then switching back to the opposite time. He provides just enough information to lead the reader to the edge of the cliff and then throws in a twist.

By using Alex Shipley’s perspective, Lavender creates a tone of uncertainty. Alex believes her professor is innocent, but so much evidence points to the contrary. Her internal conflict ramps up the plot’s intensity. All of the characters are deceptively rich, filled with secrets and hidden layers.

Alex Shipley poses the question to her classmate, “what if you could read a book and treat it as a competition between you and its author?” Lavender is challenging his readers with DOMINANCE; can you defeat the master?

DOMINANCE is available from Simon & Schuster in hardcover (ISBN: 978-1451617290). It is also available in audiobook format from Simon & Schuster Audio (ISBN: 9781442341906). I read DOMINANCE in print, so I can't speak to the narration, but it is read by Christopher Evan Welch.

MANIA - Craig Larsen

Nick Wilder is a photographer for the Seattle Telegraph newspaper. He's covered a series of grisly murders that appear to be connected, possibly a serial killer the press is calling the Street Butcher. Then one night the Street Butcher hits close to home, attacking and killing Nick's brother Sam. The more Nick investigates, the closer he moves to the answers behind his brother's murder, the more Nick questions his own state of mind, what is real and who, exactly, he can trust.

MANIA is Craig Larsen's debut thriller. It is a fast-paced, dark psychological plot filled with twists and turns. The novel doesn't follow a straight chronological order, instead it bounces around between before Sam's death, after Sam's death, and Nick's childhood. The lack of a straight timeline helps to build the suspense of the novel, but there is nothing that distinguishes where exactly on the timeline each section is. Some points take the reader a paragraph or two to orient where he/she is in the story. Some date headings probably would have been helpful for that element.

Larsen does a nice job of developing Nick's isolation and growing panic. This helps to build dimension in Nick's character. All the characters surrounding Nick seem to throw up red flags at various points in the novel; this also builds the suspense as the reader is left wondering who exactly Nick can trust, just as Nick ponders this same question.

MANIA is a solid debut and I expect we'll be seeing more thrillers from Larsen in the years to come.

MANIA is available in mass market paperback (ISBN: 978-0-7860-2154-3) from Pinnacle Books.

Island of the Naked Women - Inger Frimansson

Tobias is a writer. He started out writing poetry, but determined that writing poetry simply wouldn't pay the bills. So he turned to novel writing, his most recent being a mystery novel. When his father falls from the hayloft on his farm and is incapacitated, Tobias returns to help his father's partner, Sabina, take care of the farm and bring in the cattle from Shame Island (a.k.a. Island of the Naked Women).

Tobias and his father have a very strained relationship for no reason other than male pride. Carl Sigvard is a farmer; he works hard with his hands. He's proud of his son but doesn't know how to express that pride. Tobias' mother took him off the farm when he was young so he is a city boy and doesn't have interest in the farm. He feels that his father is ashamed of him and the work that he does. However, Tobias is attracted to Sabina and when the sparks fly, problems spring up like weeds.

Island of the Naked Women is classified as a mystery, but there is not really a mystery for the reader. He/she knows what has transpired at all points in the book. This book deals more with the mind and is thus a psychological thriller. At many points I was reminded of Edgar Allen Poe as I read. Guilt and paranoia abound.

The characters are not characters that I really found myself connecting with, but they were characters that intrigued me and made me think. Again, the mental aspect of the book coming into play, and that alone kept me turning pages and wondering just where the plot was going.

In many ways Island of the Naked Women is a modern-day tragedy. But regardless of what classification or genre it falls into, it's a book that will challenge the reader's perceptions.

Island of the Naked Women is a book that was originally published in Sweden by Inger Frimansson. This is the first book I've read by Frimansson, but she does have other books in translation available in the United States. She's also the only female writer to be awarded the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers' Award twice. I believe that Island of the Naked Women will be released in the United States in April. I have not had much luck locating it for pre-order options (perhaps closer to its U.S. release date), but it will be published in the U.S. by Caravel Mystery Books (http://www.pleasureboatstudio.com/). And I'm sure additional information could be found on Inger Frimansson's website: http://www.frimansson.se/

Shutter Island

In Shutter Island, Teddy Daniels, a US Marshall, and his new partner Chuck Aule are headed to Shutter Island to investigate an escape. Shutter Island houses Ashecliffe Hospital, an asylum for the mentally insane who have committed violent crimes, and a female patient/inmate has escaped and is running loose on the island. But Teddy Daniels has an alternate reason for taking the assignment. He has learned through a twist of fate, that the man who set fire to his apartment complex, killing Teddy's wife, is housed in this very same institution. Teddy has managed to convince a senator that unethical research on humans is taking place here, so Teddy is given the recovery assignment so he can come in and covertly find evidence of this practice. Teddy is determined to find his wife's killer and exact his own justice - ethical or otherwise.

Dennis Lehane NEVER ceases to amaze me with the gift he has. He evokes so much emotion from his readers...simply by the way he strings his words together to make sentences and paragraphs. For example, right off the bat in the prologue the reader is painted this incredible picture:

"If time for me really is a series of bookmarks, then I feel as if someone has shaken the book and those yellowed slips of paper, torn matchbook covers and flattened coffee stirrers have fallen to the floor, and the dog-eared flaps have been pressed smooth."

Later in the novel, Rachel says, "...the dreams often stringing together and piggybacking off one another until they come to resemble a novel written by Picasso."

A novel written by Picasso? Who can't imagine that? And every person's image is going to be different, but they are all going to be "abstract."

Both of these quotes epitomize the utter chaos of the insane mind. And in a way, the whole book epitomizes the insane mind. But when you come to the conclusion, it isn't chaos at all; it's a well-formed, intricately layered plot. Every element works significantly and essentially with every other element.

The other looming theme in this book is violence. Is violence truly bad? Or is it an element of us all as the Warden impresses upon Teddy?

God's gift...His violence...God loves violence...Why else would there be so much of it? It's in us. It comes out of us. It is what we do more naturally than we breathe. We wage war. We burn sacrifices. We pillage and tear at the flesh of our brothers. We fill great fields with our stinking dead. And why? To show Him that we've learned from His example...God gives us earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes. He gives us
mountains that spew fire onto our heads. Oceans that swallow ships. He gives us nature, and nature is a smiling killer. He gives us disease so that in our death we believe He gave us orifices only so that we could feel our life bleed out of them. He gave us lust and fury and greed and our filthy hearts. So that we could wage violence in His honor. There is no moral order as pure as this storm we've just seen. There is no moral order at all. There is only this - can my violence conquer yours?

A savage hurricane is the backdrop for the four days of this novel, providing the evidence of Nature's violence. And Teddy comes to the island as a peace-keeper, a law enforcer. But he has a hidden agenda to avenge his wife. Is the warden really that far off base? And in a time when we are in a perpetual state of war ourselves, how can we deny his belief? Aren't we as a people illustrating just that?

If having a phenomenal plot wasn't enough, the character development is outstanding. The range of emotion I felt for Dr. Crawley and Chuck was a range I've rarely experienced with reading. And one I've NEVER experienced with stage or screen performances. Teddy will in all likelihood have to be added to my list of favorite characters. The depth of Teddy's character comes out in his own internal conflict, in his reaction to external conflict and it even comes out through other characters. I cannot detail much more than that without giving spoilers aways, so I'll leave characterization at that.

Despite my raves about the plot and characters, there was one element that was even better...the perspective. Lehane gave this book the perfect voice. It wouldn't have been as suspenseful any other way.

In Shutter Island, I felt big bear arms wrap around me and pull me in; I could not put this book down. Every time I thought I started to grasp what was going on, a new twist evolved. And it wasn't a twist that made you think, "oh pahleeeaze! can he go any more overboard?" It was a twist that made you think, "Holy Cow! I didn't even see that coming, but it was there!" His twists are so convincing and so amazingly weaved into the fabric of the plot, that you start to be on guard. When the conclusion actually started to play out, I was still waiting for another twist. Isn't that what suspense is supposed to be about?

This novel is nothing short of fabulous! A movie version is in the works for 2009. If you haven't already, get out and read this book BEFORE Hollywood butchers it. No movie would be capable of doing Lehane's work justice on this book. It will most definitely make my top 10 for 2008.