University women are being murdered in Blackfield. Their bodies are left out in the open, and each victim’s left eye is replaced by an emerald. Kenneth Sorin, a scientist turned writer, has helped the Blackfield police before in solving serious crimes. When his uncle reaches out asking for his help again, he is hesitant, but soon intrigued in piecing the patterns together. Sorin starts his own investigation and soon begins to find overlap between the serial killer’s victims and his own manuscript as clues come in from ghosts of his past. Is he losing his grip on reality, or is he the killer?

The author does a fantastic job of never having the reader figure out who the killer is. Character after character is introduced, each with their own believable motives, turning the novel into a sophisticated whodunnit. The protagonist, for example, is stereotyped as a highly intelligent, withdrawn man who prefers his solitude (like most writers) until the author drops the big reveal about his mental health. Blending Sorin’s condition with the storyline, we get psychoanalytic hallucinations and fever dreams that end up being clues to the serial killings at hand and putting more and more blame on our protagonist.

The author’s writing is gripping and full of detail, from setting descriptions to the emotions at play on the page. Although sometimes dialogue-heavy, this is balanced by the passages of Sorin’s novel, which give alternative layers to the serial killings that are unfolding and have both the reader and the protagonist questioning the truth. Full of twists and turns, this reality-bending psychological thriller is a perfect page-turner.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review

Return to USR Home