November 29, 2004
An alcoholic Sin City police profiler goes in hot pursuit of a demented serial killer with an unusual fixation in Bernhardt's (Hate Crime
) lengthy, serpentine thriller. Intuitive cop Susan Pulaski emerges from six days in rehab to find herself fired from the force, her house foreclosed and her niece, Rachel, moved to a foster home. Not even best friend Lisa can prevent Susan from booze binges, but news of heinous local murders sobers her up enough to beg for another chance with the force. Las Vegas PD Chief O'Bannon knows Susan's abilities and temporarily re-employs her, and Darcy, the chief's autistic 26-year-old son, insinuates himself onto the case as well, since the killer leaves behind cryptic notes that only Darcy can decipher. The killer, who believes himself a combination of Edgar Allan Poe and Jesus Christ, poses his victims in scenes from Poe stories, just waiting for some revelatory Judgment Day. After more graphically violent murders, the psycho pivots his dark interest toward Susan in increasingly apocalyptic visions. Once he captures her, who will save the day? As Bernhardt's grisly, unruly plot spirals along, the book's length and its weary, co-dependent heroine drag it down. There are plenty of terrific suspense scenes, but the novel doesn't stand up to Bernhardt's Ben Kincaid/courtroom drama predecessors. Agent, Dan Strone.
November 15, 2004
Former trial attorney Bernhardt ventures away from the exploits of lawyer Ben Kincaid (Death Row) to create a new protagonist in the person of Susan Pulaski, a behaviorist for the Las Vegas P.D. Trailing a seemingly overwhelming amount of personal baggage with her, she not only tries to solve a complicated set of serial murders but also to win back her permanent position on the force. Helping her is her chief's autistic son, whose phenomenal memory for texts and penchant for puzzle solving prove invaluable. But wait, there's still the killer-he's obsessed with the works of Edgar Allan Poe and has set about murdering women with names significant in Poe's work, using particular passages from the stories and poems as inspiration for his methods of torture. These less-than-believable characters and the implausible situations into which they have been thrown only serve to reinforce the adage, "Write what you know." Recommended only where Bernhardt's other thrillers are popular.-Nancy McNicol, Ora Mason Lib., West Haven, CT
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