This week’s read was from an author that a friend of mine recommended. Shatter explores what happens when a seemingly deranged person sets out to torture his victims, not through physical pain, but through the power of suggestion. Through this power of suggestion, he gets his victims to commit suicide. Along with the investigating officers, Psychologist Joe O’Loughlin, sets out to try and catch the “killer”.
Now, I’ve read hundreds of these procedural cop-looks-for-killer type books before, so I wasn’t expecting anything too original. However, I must say, I was pleasantly surprised! To begin with, the characters were fleshed out a lot more than they usually are in thrillers; O’loughlin is academically very smart, but he severely lacks in the street savvy department. He also has Parkinsons Disease which makes his self doubt and paranoia, ever more present. The secondary characters are also quite well written and you actually believe that they exist and have a purpose.
The tone in the writing is quick and sharp, like any good thriller should be, however, you also get a sense of it being slow and that actually matches up to the agonizingly slow hunt for the killer and indeed, his slow method of killing. My only complaint, and a small complaint at that, would be that in some places the dialogue seemed a little… umm… stretched? I don’t know. Some of it didn’t flow very well for me, but that’s a personal thing I suppose.
This read was a welcome relief for me due to my last book being a load of rubbish that I couldn’t even muster up a review for. If you want a quick, intelligent, thriller that will surprise you, then I definitely recommend giving Shatter a try.

Have a wonderful Independence Day *Plots to get my country back…* (-:

Pegasus.

Shatter (Joseph O’Loughlin)