15 October, 2015

#BookReview :: Close Your Eyes (Joseph O'Loughlin #8) by Michael Robotham

I close my eyes and feel my heart begin racing
Someone is coming

They're going to find me

A mother and her teenage daughter are found brutally murdered in a remote farmhouse, one defiled by multiple stab wounds and the other left lying like Sleeping Beauty waiting for her Prince. Reluctantly, clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin is drawn into the investigation when a former student, calling himself the 'Mindhunter', trading on Joe's name, has jeopardised the police inquiry by leaking details to the media and stirring up public anger. 

With no shortage of suspects and tempers beginning to fray, Joe discover links between these murders to a series of brutal attacks where the men and women are choked unconscious and the letter 'A' is carved into their foreheads. 

As the case becomes ever more complex, nothing is quite what it seems and soon Joe's fate, and that of those closest to him, become intertwined with a merciless, unpredictable killer . . .


Every now and then I discover a new book / series / author that makes me go ‘How did I not know of this before?’ and make me feel like I live under a rock… This time it was Hachette India, who introduced me to Joseph O’Loughlin when they sent me a review copy of Close Your Eyes. 

Joseph O'Loughlin, our protagonist, is a clinical psychologist. He is estranged from his wife and two daughters. He gets involved in a case when a former student uses his name to get details of the case and then leak it. The case is not a simple one – a mother and daughter duo has been found murdered. The former’s body has been ruined with multiple stab wounds and the latter has been left staged as sleeping beauty. As he progresses on the case, he makes a shocking discovery –some previous attacks may have been connected to this case. Along with Ruiz, a detective, Joe is hot on the trail of the perpetrator, all the while tackling his own personal life. Will he be able to catch up or will this case prove to be too much for him?

This book can certainly be read as a standalone. Having said that, I really wish I had read the series from the beginning as it would have made it easier to understand the protagonist at certain levels. I liked Joseph O’Loughlin… a lot. Being a clinical psychologist he has such clear ideas about a person’s mind works and that helps a lot in tracking the perpetrator. On the other hand, having his personal life laid out in front of the readers make him more human and easy to connect with. A flawed characterization somehow makes it easier to accept the character. After all, aren’t all of us a bit flawed somewhere? 

The plot is engaging and has quite a few red herrings to lure the readers into thinking things in a completely wrong direction. With a fast pace and appealing narrative, the book is a complete entertainer. Some seasoned mystery readers may be able to guess things right towards the end, but that will not take away anything from the reading experience.


Review Copy received from Hachette India

1 comment:

  1. 600 reviews is no little feat, Debi. Here's hoping you reach a thousand within the next year. :)

    ReplyDelete