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A review by beate251
How To Read A Killer's Mind by Tam Barnett
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.
Ever since Dr Emy Rose's brother Sam, 21, was kidnapped and murdered by serial killer Frank Elkins, her mother has suffered from traumatic mutism and hasn't spoken a word. That was ten years ago.
At the weekends, Emy who gets a first person POV, and her mother go searching for Sam's grave. In her work time, psychologist Emy is trying everything to get Frank Elkins to talk and reveal Sam's and his other victims' whereabouts to get their families some closure. She has managed to get a project off the ground that allows her to interview serial killers in a facility called Beeswell, together with her colleagues and friends Chi and Robbie.
The inmates, beside Frank Elkins, are Joe Okorie who killed eight women, suffers from a personality disorder and is in love with Emy. He gets a third person POV. Then there is Tim Shenton, a highly intelligent psychopathic paedophile who is charged with raping and murdering his little nephew. He doesn't fit the criteria of Emy's study because he hasn't confessed and there is no body to be found, but Justice Secretary Harrington has ulterior motives that require him to confess before a trial, so in he comes.
Can Emy, with the help of her colleagues and journalist Leon, get some results for the victims' families, including her own, before Beeswell is shut down forever? And how far will she go in this psychological tug-of-war to achieve them?
There are some very unlikeable characters in this book, and many unpredictable twists and turns. The story takes a bit to get going but I would say this is better than Tam Barnett's first novel "How to Get Away with Murder". I stayed up all night to finish this. It's a captivating read with gobsmacking twists I did not see coming! It is darker than the cover suggests though and I was missing any humour.
I Ioved Emy's relationship with her traumatised mother, how she tried to get the inmates to talk and how we got an insight into a twisted murderer's mind. Recommended if you love a twisty thriller with unhinged psychopaths or sociopaths at every corner.
"If you can convince someone that you and they are on the same team, have the same goals, or the same purpose, it makes them far easier to manipulate and influence."
(Robert Cialdini's unity principle)
Ever since Dr Emy Rose's brother Sam, 21, was kidnapped and murdered by serial killer Frank Elkins, her mother has suffered from traumatic mutism and hasn't spoken a word. That was ten years ago.
At the weekends, Emy who gets a first person POV, and her mother go searching for Sam's grave. In her work time, psychologist Emy is trying everything to get Frank Elkins to talk and reveal Sam's and his other victims' whereabouts to get their families some closure. She has managed to get a project off the ground that allows her to interview serial killers in a facility called Beeswell, together with her colleagues and friends Chi and Robbie.
The inmates, beside Frank Elkins, are Joe Okorie who killed eight women, suffers from a personality disorder and is in love with Emy. He gets a third person POV. Then there is Tim Shenton, a highly intelligent psychopathic paedophile who is charged with raping and murdering his little nephew. He doesn't fit the criteria of Emy's study because he hasn't confessed and there is no body to be found, but Justice Secretary Harrington has ulterior motives that require him to confess before a trial, so in he comes.
Can Emy, with the help of her colleagues and journalist Leon, get some results for the victims' families, including her own, before Beeswell is shut down forever? And how far will she go in this psychological tug-of-war to achieve them?
There are some very unlikeable characters in this book, and many unpredictable twists and turns. The story takes a bit to get going but I would say this is better than Tam Barnett's first novel "How to Get Away with Murder". I stayed up all night to finish this. It's a captivating read with gobsmacking twists I did not see coming! It is darker than the cover suggests though and I was missing any humour.
I Ioved Emy's relationship with her traumatised mother, how she tried to get the inmates to talk and how we got an insight into a twisted murderer's mind. Recommended if you love a twisty thriller with unhinged psychopaths or sociopaths at every corner.
"If you can convince someone that you and they are on the same team, have the same goals, or the same purpose, it makes them far easier to manipulate and influence."
(Robert Cialdini's unity principle)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail