In 2010 my Book of the Year was American Devil by Oliver Stark. I raved about it (my review is on the author's website), and I thought then, and still do, that it was one of the best thrillers I had read in years. Since then I have been chewing my nails waiting the follow up and Oh Joy O Rapture it arrived last week. Thrilled and honoured to see that a quote from my review of American Devil is shown inside the cover of 88 Killer. Thank you Headline.
So what do I think of the new book? Always hard to produce a second novel after the excitement, thrill and pride of having your first book published, but no problems here at all. Another stonking story, quite quite brilliant and despite my determination not to read it straight away and save it up for the weekend, gave in almost immediately and bang went the rest of the afternoon. Ironing abandoned, dirty dishes soaking in the washing up bowl, rubbish not taken out while I renewed my acquaintance with Detective Tom Harper and psychologist Denise Levene. 88 Killer starts just a few months after the serial killer in American Devil had been discovered and thwarted and Denise is having a hard time recovering from the trauma of her abduction and imprisonment by the murderer. She has not seen Tom since then, is frightened and nervous and has to resort to attending a clinic by an unusual psychologist who specialises in turning 'victims' into 'predators' in an attempt to get her life back on track.
While this is going on, a teenager Abigail Goldberg, sneaking out to attend a pop concert, is abducted. No ransom note is received and her disappearance is in danger of being filed away by the police who think it is likely she has left of her own accord.
David Capske, twenty seven, engaged to be married and very pleased with how his life has turned around is out with his fiance Lucy. All is well, they are having a good time and then later on that evening David receives a telephone call and goes off to a meeting. Next day he is found murdered in a dark alley but murdered in the most awful way as the police find when they arrive that he has been tortured before being shot by being rolled and bound up in barbed wire. An email notifying his death has been sent to TV networks and the Press who turn up in force as it turns out that the victim is a judge's son so a political motive is suspected.
Both the missing teenager and David Capske were Jewish and when a third murder occurs, also Jewish, Harper finds the numbers 88 marked up near each body. 88 refers to the eighth letter of the alphabet so equates to HH for Heil Hitler, the bullets used to kill each victim are original lead bullets used by the Nazis and as it is clear that this series of murders has a racial theme. Harper turns to the Hate Crime unit for intelligence on the anti-Semitic, Nazi loving groups in the city. He sets up his team and a recovering Denise rejoins him to help with the psychological profiling and we are plunged into the intricacies and ins and outs of the investigation.
Difficult to review a thriller because if I go into detail and tell you of the ins and outs this is going to be a hell of a post; if I do this and give you details then I will also give you clues and hints and there is no way I want to even offer you a glint in a dark tunnel of puzzlement so that you can identify the murderer. No way. When I reviewed American Devil I said that 'it was tightly plotted, intricately planned, not a loose end or an unexplained action or clue anywhere". This quote also applies to 88 Killer which is why I found myself slightly puzzled when a line of inquiry which I had picked up on was not followed. I kept thinking but surely if Tom interviews that person he will find out who the other person was that they knew and that person must be the killer. Yes I know that is an appalling sentence but I trying not identify this character. I got rather worried about it but I knew I shouldn't have done and should have had more faith. This thread was left hanging in the wind so readers like me could niggle about it, but in masterly fashion Oliver Stark has it picked up and sorted and, of course, leads us to the murderer.
I apologise for the convoluted, probably incomprehensible round about review. Trying sooo hard to keep it all a secret but I can tell you now that this is another marvellous read. Difficult to realise that the author is English as he has the grittiness and background of the New York setting spot on, the language and behaviour of the team working on the case is masterly and the relationship between Harper and Levene is growing all the time. A thrilling, nail biting climax which, as with American Devil, had me on the edge of my seat and I can say once again, that Oliver Stark is an amazingly clever and thrilling writer.
Please note that 88 Killer is published 18 August 2011 as a paperback original and is also available on Kindle. I beg you to nip over now and place your order and will be back on that date on Random to remind you all. I don't want anybody who loves crime fiction to miss this simply terrific book.
I gather the author is already working on the third. Oliver, please note I CANNOT WAIT.....
