MY THOUGHTS

All I can start with is WOW what a read, I started reading this book last night, prised it from my hands early hours, then picked it up and finished it this afternoon. This had me HOOKED from start to finish, my heart was pounding as I got to the last 30 or so pages.

I love books with serial killers, I know, a little strange, maybe, but it fascinates me. But where this book is different from other serial killers is it’s set in 2035, now think how much technology has come on in the last 20 years, then imagine what could be around in the next 15, despite the fact I will be getting on a bit, hoping I will still be a little tech savvy.

Kyra Sullivan is a Neuropsychologist, she has devised a machine that is known as CASNDRA which stands for “Computer Assisted Scientific Neurological Detail Recall Aid” she devised this technology in the hope of it being used in some way by the Justice system. What the machine is able to do, which we learn from the first chapter, is take the thoughts and images of events in that persons life, from his/her brain and transfer them to another person, like watching a movie. Kyra is the one in the seat receiving the information. If you have ever used any of the VR technology it’s in some ways like that, as Kyra wears a VR headset to see the images. If you have ever tried these headsets you will know that everything feels so real, my son has one of these headsets and put it on me, not telling me the game I was going to be playing was a rollercoaster ride, and has clowns, it left me feeling quite sick. Unfortunately, Kyra’s partner Carter, the man with the money has decided to sell this technology to the MOD without consulting her. What they don’t yet know is if there are any side effects for the receiver of the information. As Kyra starts to have some recurring visions or phantoms from what she saw through the eyes of Brownrigg the man from the MOD.

I know, so what does this have to do with a serial killer? Kyra’s sister Emma was murdered in February 14 years earlier by a serial killer, who is now behind bars David Lomax, except he has just escaped custody, but Kyra has always wondered if he was the right person, known as the Mizpah Murderer, because he always left a Mizpah pendant with the bodies. Kyra had at the time been a profiler with the police, she was also in a relationship with the officer in charge Tom. Every year for 3 years 2 women had disappeared they had labelled them type A and type B, the type A’s had been mutilated and dumped in a horrible place, the type B’s had been abducted, killed but left whole and been placed in water. Kyra’s last words to her sister had been harsh, her sister had stormed off with her then 3 year old daughter Molly, Kyra had run after her, but had found Molly and never saw Emma alive again. This has haunted her.

Her and Tom had split up after Emma’s death, but now he wanted her help. Kyra had said about doubts 14 years earlier but no one had listened, could she have been right, or not. This story is so well written and it’s not just the story that flows so well, it’s the characters, I like Kyra, yes she is haunted by those last words, but she is there for her mum and for Molly who is now 18, and still struggling with the loss of her mum at 3.

The technology is so well thought out no longer the internet but the hypernet, after all we are always wanting faster internet. Commset’s instead of a mobile phone although it sounds like a similar thing except you can have a hidden earpiece, Kyra likes to use hers like a mobile. Electric cars are a luxury that Kyra has, a lot of people use free public transport. People can be micro chipped, vehicles can be chipped. So just a few of the main things used, which aren’t far fetched, totally possible to be the tech we have in 15 years. Some of it is so close now.

As Kyra pushes to finally get the answers about Emma, the tension builds, another woman is dead, a type A, and now they need to find the second victim, who has already been abducted, they know how long they have, before the killer kills her, but can they save her? With David Lomax back in prison, they don’t know whether he has left her somewhere, or if he has an accomplice, or did they have the right person in the first place? Kyra puts herself increasingly in danger. Everyone seems to turn their backs on her. Tom, another police officer Alex all start to think she has gone mad. Even Jimmy who is a best friend and colleague, although he is concerned.

So if you want a tense ride, grab a copy of this book, put your seatbelts on because once you start reading this you will not want to put it down.

I was lucky enough to have won a copy of this in a competition from the author, to which I am very grateful. But all opinions in this review are my own and my own words, totally unbiased.

This book most definitely gets  out of  it would probably get higher if I could give them, I will be certainly looking out for the next novel by this author.