Adam Colclough lives and works in the West Midlands, he writes regularly for a number of websites, one day he will get round to writing a book for someone else to review.
The body of a going boy is found in Epping Forest neatly arranged as if he had fallen asleep; only he's stone dead. A crime showing the meticulous planning and calculated cruelty that are the hallmarks of a serial killer. Just the sort of case that Metropolitan Police forensic psychologist Holly Wakefield is drawn towards, as the body count rises, he will have to match wits with a killer willing to go to any length to make his brutal vision a reality.
This is the second novel featuring Holly Wakefield and it shows every sign of a series that is going from strength to strength. Griffin shows a grim awareness of the criminal mind. His killer is someone defined not by what they are, but by all the things they don't have, like the ability to feel empathy that is the basis of being fully human.
As a hunter Wakefield is a character with real depth. In this instance a personal void into which she has looked for longer than is healthy. The final chapters where she goes head to head with the killer to elicit the truth and, maybe, save a life are a masterpiece of well-crafted suspense.
This is a clever and sometimes chilling book that is clear eyed about what motivates the worst criminals and as such makes for fascinating, if unsettling reading.
