Reviewed By: Jon Jordan - Crime Spree Magazine - RAM
Valentine
Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Tom Savage
Class/Genre: Mystery Thriller Serial Killer
1997, Onyx paperback 446 pages/ $ 6.99
I love serial killer books. I don’t know why, and probably don’t want to know why. But I love them, good or bad. When I started this book I figured it would be just another one of those serial killer books full of clichés and the same hero to the rescue at the end with some gratuitous violence thrown in for good measure.
And the first chapter seemed to support this. And that’s fine. For me this is light reading that I can pick up and put down with out loosing track of the plot.
But, I was wrong. Tom Savage suckered me right in. All of a sudden there is a protagonist who is not a cop or a FBI agent or even a PI. She’s an author and potential next victim. And she writes mysteries, so there is already something about her I like. Lots of little in jokes for mystery readers. She has likable friends and lives a realistic life. And the killer actually comes off as believable as well. His motivation has a warped sense of logic to it.
The real hook to this book was all the false leads as to who the killer is. We know his real name after a while, but of course he’s using a fake name, and a disguise. I was shocked when I discovered the true identity at the end. Tom Savage reeled me in, Hook Line and Sinker.
A great book, and definitely not to be written off as “just another serial killer book”. You can bet that I’ll be in more of a hurry to read the rest of his books.
Jon Jordan - Crime Spree Magazine - RAM
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Jon Jordan - Crime Spree Magazine - RAM
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