It’s beginning to look like Christmas … »

December 14, 2008

“Finally, a psychopath which is written as a psychopath…”

The aftermath of the Mayerthorpe incident — the real event that inspired Gabe Caruso.

Another MANHUNTER review, this one from AztecLady: “Going by the blurb, one would think that Silver and Gabe spend most their time rolling around in the proverbial hay. The reality is that most of the novel deals with the minutiae of tracking, the psychology of the serial killer, and the growth both these characters undergo throughout the novel.

Both Gabe and Silver have emotional scars, of which their physical scars bear symbol. The killer has an uncanny instinct to find these weaknesses in those he stalks and exploit it. In Gabe’s case, it was the killer himself who inflicted the wounds Gabe is still struggling to heal from. Interestingly, the situation is quite different with Silver. The killer originally zeroes in on her because of her well known tracking ability, and therefore he has to study her a bit in order to find her trigger.

The game of cat and mouse—hunter and prey—the three of them play is truly fascinating, and Ms White’s writing conveys perfectly the sense of danger, of urgency, of very real desperation Gabe and Silver feel as a result of the killer’s actions. Simultaneously, the killer’s point of view (thankfully limited) is chilling in its coldness. Finally, a psychopath which is written as a psychopath, instead of caricature of the breed—cold, determined, intelligent, devoid of the most basic of human emotions or moral/ethical compass.

While obviously expecting a positive resolution—this is after all a genre romance novel—I was never sure of how exactly it was going to happen, and was never sure exactly how far, emotionally and physically, the author would push her characters. Turns out she did push them, harder and further than many other romantic suspense books I’ve read, including some rather lengthier ones …..”

Aztec Lady hated the back cover blurb though — felt it didn’t reflect the story. Her thoughts here

Mounties march to the funeral of slain officers. A sea of red serge.