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THE CALLER
by Alex Barclay
HarperCollins, April 2007
432 pages
6.99 GBP
ISBN: 0007195346


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

The prologue of THE CALLER introduces the reader to the murderer. The killer is in his basement – which apparently serves as his bedroom and workroom. He plays with a model of human teeth which the reader is led to believe is of the mouth of one of the victims.

Meanwhile, Detective Joe Lucchesi is visiting the dentist. He is in pain but the mental pain is greater than the physical: he has just taken a call from Duke Rawlins the man who, when Joe and his family were in Ireland, had been responsible for the death of the girlfriend of Joe's son Shaun. Now Duke is threatening to kill Anna, Joe's wife.

The tragedy in Ireland has taken its toll of Joe's family. Shaun, mourning his loss, is having difficulty relating to his peers at school while Anna is withdrawn, working from home and unable to cope when she tries to go outside.

There is a serial killer plying his trade in New York. At least two victims have let a killer into their homes and had their trust repaid by having their faces beaten to a pulp during their murder. Both victims had made a telephone call not long prior to their death. Joe learns that a third victim is apparently the prey of the serial killer.

The cops receive mysterious letters which could have been written by someone with an inside knowledge of the violent deaths so Joe and his partner Danny track down the writer.

The mystery of the murders seems almost at times to be secondary to the problems suffered by Joe Lucchesi. Given all the worries about his wife and his son, not to mention the pain he is suffering, it is a wonder he manages to concentrate long enough to try to track down the killer.

The path leading to the killer is rather a convoluted one. Joe and Danny must both deal with domestic problems at the same time as solving the mystery of the horrible murders.

The characterisation in this work is well done. The atmosphere evoked is suitably grisly and the worries of both detectives made convincingly real. The motivation driving the killer is perhaps not quite as believable.

To my mind, since so much of the present story is rooted in the previous adventure, not enough space is given to a reprise of that adventure. Regardless, Barclay displays a great deal of promise and she has certainly left plenty of scope for future tales, given the number of plot hooks left in place.

Reviewed by Denise Pickles, March 2007

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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