Review by Booklist Review
A serial killer terrorizes a picturesque town on the coast of Maine in this engaging thriller that portrays lost souls on both sides of the law. When a teenage boy is found murdered in The Settlement, the town's historic reenactment site, the FBI immediately connects his ritualistic, bizarre manner of death to a long-dormant serial killer in the area. It falls to the town's inexperienced and only detective, Alex Brangwen, to stop a potential killing spree. Alex's former career--he considers himself a failed novelist--serves him well here, as he needs to do some creative thinking and use his knowledge of character and motivation. In his third novel, Nichols (The Rocks, 2015) plots a compelling page-turner, particularly with periodic chapters from the murderer's point of view that slowly build an anonymous portrait of a tragically neglected and abused individual. The real strength here is in the compassionate portrayal of a diverse array of small-town characters, some suspects, some not, who struggle with their own past lies and secrets.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A spate of gruesome killings rocks a coastal Maine town in Nichols's disquieting latest (after The Rocks). When teenager Shane Carter is found mutilated and hanging from a crossbeam in sleepy Granite Harbor's only museum, shock reverberates through the community. Untested police detective Alex Brangwen--a failed British novelist who's begrudgingly shelved his literary ambitions for the promise of a steady paycheck--starts investigating, only to find that his familiarity with and affection for his neighbors is clouding his judgment. At his boss's request, the FBI provides assistance, and digs up a possible link to a 16-year-old cold case. Then another teenager is murdered, ratcheting up panic across town and lighting a fire under Alex to catch the culprit. He teams up with single mom Isabel Dorr, whose children were friends with both victims, to ferret out answers, and their inquiry brings them face-to-face with a terrifying killer hiding in plain sight. While the pacing in the first third can be erratic, Nichols makes up for it when he unveils his bone-chilling antagonist via a lengthy, hair-raising backstory. The result is a grisly and fiendishly inventive murder mystery that will rattle even seasoned genre fans. Agent: Patrick E. Walsh, PEW Literary. (Apr.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A British novelist turned Maine police detective finds himself investigating a horrific murder. Nichols follows up his innovative novel The Rocks (2015) with a more familiar type of thriller. In its opening scene we meet three teenage boys, gleefully skateboarding the nighttime streets of sleepy Granite Harbor. When Shane splits off from the group, an observer in a pickup truck rolls after him, a montage of images racing through his brain. "He was beneath the small blond girl riding him like a rocking horse....He was pinned to the ground as boys and girls spread their legs above him....In the woods with Ivan, the Master...[t]he hanging coyote was speaking his name....In his mouth he tasted the bitter pus...." Think we might have a serial killer on our hands? Very soon we will learn the horrific details of his murderous routine, as will Det. Alex Brangwen, the interesting Brit at the center of the novel's large, well-developed ensemble cast. As Alex was beginning a successful writing career in the U.K.--he was shortlisted for the Booker Prize--his pregnant American wife, truly a bitch on wheels, insisted on moving home to have her baby. Maine, she decided, telling Alex it was beautiful, full of writers, and he'd love it there. But, unfortunately, things went south with both the marriage and his third novel, and he ended up working at the local police department, whose chief, Belinda "Billie" Raintree, had read his books and thought the skill set would translate. Now Shane's desecrated body turns up on the grounds of the Settlement, a local archaeological site where many locals work as historic re-enactors, Goody this and Goodman that. Shane was a friend of Alex's now-teenage daughter Sophie, and she and the other two skateboarders become even more alienated from their parents after the murder--particularly problematic because Mr. Weirdo still has them in his sights. Well-written, character-driven portrait of small-town New England meets Silence of the Lambs. Strong stomach a plus. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
