Synopsis: A child begins having dreams of things she could not possibly know. Things of another life. When her nightmares fail to subside, her mother researches the events and names the child keeps repeating. Unbeknownst to her, the daughter is remembering a past life. A life where she crossed paths with the infamous Zodiac Killer who terrorized San Francisco in the 1960s & 70s.
The problem? The Zodiac was never caught, and he soon learns someone is online with intimate details about his identity. The Zodiac comes out of hiding to hunt down the mother and daughter who know too much.
Review: Well. Sit me down. In fact, pick me up off the floor. Before you think that's a bit over the top, let me just say that I do like serial killer stories, but they need to be clever, engaging, engrossing. Some go over the top with gore or other explicit details and it can spoil the enjoyment of the tale.
The author has crafted an excellent tale of the mysterious and very frightening Zodiac Killer. He reminds me a bit of BTK (Bind Torture Kill) a real murderer who killed many, and laid low for a while, until he was found out and after many years, prosecuted.
I have no interest in acting out what they do, in fact what they do repulses me, but in the world of fiction, a well drawn character like Z makes the story utterly enthralling.
It's hard not to rave about this book. I write as an honest reviewer and I can only say that each page was an utter joy to read. The characters are ones you feel for, even ones that are only in a few paragraphs (their existence cut short by Z). But the author pays attention to modern day ways in her tale too - the serial killer chat room for instance, where one of our heroines - Gail - may or may not be chatting to the actual Zodiac Killer. Even his online name - KillingIsFun, really creeped me out.
There's another story about the woman's young daughter inhabiting the soul of one of Z's victims. This is all plausible, well constructed and believable in its execution. I would argue that even if police / crime / serial killer mysteries aren't your typical genre, this could be the book to change your view.
Whilst reading this book (over two days - it's that readable) I felt I could guess who the killer really was. I will leave it to you to make your own discovery.
The story has its brutal and shocking moments, but it is always in context, and I loved that.
I've read some excellent books this year, but if you only have time / money to get a handful of books, make sure this is is amongst them. In short -I give this book SIX stars.
