𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀?

𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫: Heather heads home after her mom’s mysterious suicide only to discover her mom has been writing to an infamous serial killer for years. Why? This question leads Heather to explore her mom’s veiled past while suddenly more bodies appear in the same manner as Reave’s murders. And Heather feels like she is being followed. Is this a copycat? Is Reave innocent? And how is Heather’s family tied into this craziness?

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: Serial killers. Sign me up. (What does that say about me 🤔)! I mean, I’m watching the new Son of Sam doc on Netflix and here I am reading about fictional ones. Yikes. (Therapy?) I was impressed with the length of suspense in this one – it pulls and pulls like a taut wire, chapter by chapter. Some might find that “slow burn” tedious, but I enjoyed the pace.

I have a weird fascination with people fascinated by serial killers (so yes I’m fascinated with myself). What’s the attraction? (NO I’m not ATTRACTED in that way). Why do people write letters to them? (NO I wouldn’t do that). But psychologically there is a draw to the macabre otherwise Poe would have never become a legend (Phew, ok I’m normal).

I figured out a bit (but not all) of the story from some too obvious clues and the characters were adequate. I’d call this a nice summer read to give you a few heebie jeebies.

All my reviews available at scrappymags.com around time of publication.

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Mystery, not as “psychological” as billed, about a 3/10 on the heebie jeebies for when Heather actually meets Michael Reave in prison – very “Clarisse Starling.”

𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨: Slow burn mystery fans who love lots of drawn out suspense.

𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: “quick and dirty” mystery reader

ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ, ɴᴇᴛɢᴀʟʟᴇʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄʀᴏᴏᴋᴇᴅ ʟᴀɴᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍʏ ᴀᴅᴠᴀɴᴄᴇᴅ ᴄᴏᴘʏ ɪɴ ᴇxᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍʏ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏꜱ-ʜᴏɴᴇꜱᴛ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ᴍᴏꜱᴛʟʏ ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍʏ ꜱᴇʀɪᴀʟ ᴋɪʟʟᴇʀ ꜰᴀꜱᴄɪɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ.