Reviews
"Boston police detective D. D. Warren returns in another gripping thriller. A family is murdered, apparently by the father (who, it seems, barely failed to take his own life after killing his wife and young children). But soon there are questions, the most pressing of which is, Why would this man, apparently out of the blue, slaughter his own family? Is it possible that someone else was the killer, perhaps another member of the family? In addition to telling a compelling story, Gardner also explores an issue that is rarely discussed in fiction: children who are psychotic. In first-person chapters narrated by other characters (Victoria, a mother at her witsrs" end; Danielle, survivor of a family slaughter), she eases the reader into unfamiliar territory, telling us about children-like Evan, Victoriars"s eight-year-old son-who are capable of astonishing violence, including plotting to murder their own parents. Gardner has never shied away from creepy, psychologically twisted stories, but this may be her most unsettling. The notion of murderous children may be off-putting enough to make some readers avoid the book. That would be a mistake: Gardner never sensationalizes her story, and the book ends with a resolution that is creatively and emotionally appropriate. An excellent novel." -Booklist From the Hardcover edition., "Boston police detective D. D. Warren returns in another gripping thriller. A family is murdered, apparently by the father (who, it seems, barely failed to take his own life after killing his wife and young children). But soon there are questions, the most pressing of which is, Why would this man, apparently out of the blue, slaughter his own family? Is it possible that someone else was the killer, perhaps another member of the family? In addition to telling a compelling story, Gardner also explores an issue that is rarely discussed in fiction: children who are psychotic. In first-person chapters narrated by other characters (Victoria, a mother at her wits' end; Danielle, survivor of a family slaughter), she eases the reader into unfamiliar territory, telling us about children--like Evan, Victoria's eight-year-old son--who are capable of astonishing violence, including plotting to murder their own parents. Gardner has never shied away from creepy, psychologically twisted stories, but this may be her most unsettling. The notion of murderous children may be off-putting enough to make some readers avoid the book. That would be a mistake: Gardner never sensationalizes her story, and the book ends with a resolution that is creatively and emotionally appropriate. An excellent novel." -- Booklist
