Desperation & Loss
Courage & Recovery
Saul Black’s characterization of the lead investigator Valerie Hart is excellent. She’s smart, accomplished and damn good at her job. Stress has taken its toll however and her decline is marked by a serial killer case from years earlier.
She becomes self-destructive and betrays her lover with another man. It’s not just his heart she crushed with this act but also her own, and she descends into alcoholism. While this seems a typical trope it feels real, relatable and understandable.
This is a dark crime fiction book with a demented killer and his ‘wanna-be’ sidekick wreaking chaos across the country. One criticism, the book could have easily lost the FBI agent Carla York whose character is simply unnecessary and somewhat puzzling for that.
A sub-plot with and elderly man crippled by sciatica and a frightened little girl brings poignant nuance over the pages. One of the best books I’ve listened to this year.
Update: Book 2 in the Valerie Hart series, Love Murder is now available.
~ June Lorraine
British author Glen Duncan writing as Saul Black
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