Talk about genre skipping! This story starts as a psychological thriller, then changes to an alien science fiction tale. It's a chunky, choppy tale involving a woman, Erin Palmer, who is traumatized as a child by a psychopath in a gritty scene, only to grow up studying psychopaths from inside their prison cells (hence the Hannibal Lecter reference). The opening set me up for what I thought would be in the vein of The Silence of the Lambs.

Wrong.

Erin's motivation is create something that will tell us who the next Ted Bundy is and jokes with a reporter about it. Her bosses know she isn't serious (think of the ethical concerns!), but an E.T. does

Those who like cross-genre science fiction and thrillers.

I found the style a bit jarring at times; some scenes would reveal something the reader doesn't know, and then flashback or have one of the characters explain what happened. This worked stylistically the first or second time, but beyond that it got a bit stale and would rather have seen the action unfold more linearly.

There is a lot of heavy medical jargon banter between the main character and others including an alien that might be good or bad. There's a somewhat predictable love interest angle with a bald guy, but I kept reading in fascination because the central story seemed to radically change. I have a hard time classifying this, but in some ways it reminds me a bit of something Michael Crichton might have written as a first draft and then honed it down to something more defined. Then again, it could be the work of a clever author.

The characterization was sometimes stereotypical and there was a heavy amount of dialogue, some very interesting, some seemed extraneous. Overall this is a difficult read to recommend to other readers because of the blending of genres. I think it might appeal more to sci-fi readers than thriller readers, and maybe some who like both. It earns points for being an unusual read. 3.25 stars.

FTC notice: I received an uncorrected proof advance review copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is scheduled to be published September 17, 2013.

Approximately 319 pages.

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Created Sep 01, 2013 at 4:58am • Submit your own review...