The Blurb:

“A law student is raped and tortured in her own New York apartment by a masked man. Still in emotional hell 12 years later with her looks and name disguised so the perpetrator – whoever he is – cannot track her down, she has become one of the state prosecutors in Florida and faces in court a psycho arrested for the most gruesome serial killings of women. Immediately she recognises his voice. The plot storms along from peaks of terror to resoluteness to anguished nightmare, with just enough love interest to give moments of respite from the macabre. A dream of a debut thriller.”

What I thought:

Absolutely brilliant! This is the first book by this author that I have read and I plan on tracking down her others now. A gritty, no holds barred book that grabs you from the off and makes you question what you think you know.

The story starts with Chloe, a young law student from New York who is brutally raped in by someone who is waiting for her in her appartment when she gets home from a night out right before she is about to take the Bar exam. The rape scene is not for the feint of heart, not because it goes into too much detail about the physical act but because it is played out before the readers eyes with breath-holding tension. From the word go we have our bad guy, the evil person who has destroyed the life of an innocent young girl in terrifying detail and from that point on we want him caught – we want to see him get his just deserts!

Fast forward 12 years and Chloe (or CJ as she is now known) is now living in Florida as a highly successful Prosecutor and she is about to be handed the case that could send her career into orbit. “Cupid” has been terrorising the women of Florida for the last 4 years (with his victims always suffering the most appalling fate) and the police have just caught him! Or have they? I don’t want to give too much away as it’s far better to read the book yourself, but it’s sufficient to say that naturally the story won’t be as clear cut as Chloe had hoped when she recognises the voice “Cupid” and she has a tough decision to make.

I loved this book. I do love me a good thriller / mystery and this was up among the best for me. Grit, suspense and drama all in one. Love it!