A couple in their 80s are found murdered in a church in Wisconsin; in the neighbouring state of Minnesota, an apparently unrelated series of killings is taking place which is modelled on the plot of a soon-to-be-released computer game.

Quite a lot of cliches in this book, including a killer with a bizarre psychological hangup, a cop tormented by past failure, and a gutsy but vulnerable Clarice Starling type who just managed to escape a murderous encounter several years before the book starts. We also get a final scene where the killer reaches the main character and then spends too much time explaining things rather than polishing her off. But despite this, and the fact that you've not really got much chance of working out for yourself whodunnit, the book does an efficient job of making you feel for the characters, and manages to make the tension grow as the killer inevitably gets closer to the main character.

Worth reading another one; apparently the next one by this "author" (looks like a pen-name for two authors actually) is out now, called "Live Bait".

Completed : 28-Sep-2004