Reviews

Sandford ( Shadow Prey ) brings back Minneapolis police Lt. Lucas Davenport in this terrific, fast-moving psycho-thriller/procedural featuring one of the nastiest villains in recent fiction. Michael Bekker, a pathologist fixed on his own beauty, various high-powered drugs and hatred of his wife, also is obsessed with the eyes of the dead and dying. He joins forces with Carlo Druze, an actor with a face ruined by fire, to kill Bekker's wife and the theater manager who wants to cashier Druze. Druze kills and mutilates Mrs. Bekker when Bekker's out of town; Bekker returns the favor when Druze has a solid alibi, leading the Minneapolis police to suspect a serial killer. Fighting depression, estranged from his lover and their child, Davenport seeks a frightened mystery witness, Mrs. Bekker's lover, who tries to help while remaining hidden. To cover their tracks Bekker and Cruze go on a murderous, almost random rampage providing many gory scenes, but mercifully none too explicit. Nobody's safe from Bekker's drug-powered cunning, not sick children nor a helpless invalid. The final revelation of the unknown lover is wrenching. Pulitzer-winning journalist ``Sandford'' also writes as John Camp ( The Empress File ). BOMC and Mysterious Book Club alternates. (Apr.)