Saturday, June 14, 2014

Book Review: The Element of Death by Steve Wilson

*Copy provided by NetGalley*

It all starts with Halloween murder. Young woman has been murdered in her home. A note is left. Just a bunch of letters written with victim's blood, nothing makes sense.

Ben Watson works on the case. It seems that the serial killer has attacked again. The one who recently is out of prison. The one who has unfinished business with Ben Watson.

Ben Watson considers himself like Rupert Penry-Jones' character in Whitechapel series. He has OCD and recently is left by his girlfriend. He has all Sherlock Holmes' series and many other crime books, all precisely lined on the bookshelves. 

Murders continue. Women die. Nothing connects them. They die brutally, in pain, each one in different way, on different place, on different date. Only the blood messages that only Watson deciphers connect them. 

The Element of Death is an interesting read with many riddles to decipher.  The killing scenes are too brutal, very detailed and creepy. With every other murder, there is another message that has to be deciphered and follows to another puzzle that has to be solved. The main character is typical detective hero with ruined personal life. I liked him with  his entire library of crime books and his obsession with crime tv shows. Maybe it's just me, I read too many crime books, but I predicted the ending and the revealing of the killer. I also think that the ending comes too fast, I was expecting little bit more tension. The plot is good, interesting, intriguing and keeps you turning the pages to the last one. The author did a good job here, and overall, The Element of Death is a good psychological thriller that needs to be checked out.

My actual rating: 3.5 / 5.

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