By Stephen White. Grade: B
The deaths appeared to be bizarre, unrelated accidents – until Dr Alan Gregory discovered the chilling link. Years before, each of the victims was involved in the psychology and psychiatry training program at the University of Colorado. And each was slain in an ingeniously planned, brilliantly executed murder. Now only two alumni survive: Dr Gregory and Dr Sawyer Sackett, a woman he once loved. As the past resurfaces in ways that are as intimate as they are frightening, Alan and Sawyer are plunged into the private nightmare of a killer who knows about the terrifying power of mind games…
The plot begins when a close friend of Dr Alan Gregory passed away. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to Alan until two-ex FBI agents contact him and tell him that a serial killer is on the loose and he is after that very group of people who worked with Alan in an elite psychological facility. With a life threat looming above his head, he joins his heads with Dr Sawyer Sackett, his ex-flame, to race against time, frantically trying to expose the killer.
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The novel has two parallel events: First, Dr Gregory’s personal life – which comprises of his interactions with his sick (medically) wife and the new found confrontations with his past flame, the one whom he has been running from. Second, Dr Gregory’s professional life – which involves him saving his life from a serial killer hell bent on finishing the team which was associated with a psychiatric programme of the University of Colorado Medical Center. The plot swings between these two events. What is even better is that it is in first person which gives a full perspective of both these aspects.
The USP of the plot is how the haunting past, the frenzied present and the impending doom of the protagonist are enmeshed together to show the condition in which he is. But the better part is the sequence in which these events have been written. The switchovers from one time frame to other are impressive. The characterization in the novel also deserves a special mention. The way the characters of Dr Alan Gregory, his wife Lauren and the other supporting ones have been sketched is really commendable. But a special mention goes to that of Dr Sawyer Sackett, which was portrayed as different, rare, damaged yet insightful.
The plot is very subtle in its unfolding. But perhaps that is what hampers it. The biggest flaw of the plot is the fact that a very powerful antagonist was underwhelmingly revealed. The good ones spend more than half the novel chasing a ghost, but the fashion in which who the bad one is comes to light really underplays the monstrosity of the revelation, just like in acting – too much of underplay could come across as not acting. Had the bad guy been revealed in a better fashion, it would have been much, much better for the novel.
All-in-all, a good novel only undone by the underwhelming unveiling of the villain.
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