Denial

Picked this book up by chance at a 2nd-hand book clearance. Was about to put it down after the second instance of unbelievably cruel and sadistic violence. But the short chapters and good writing kept me going, hoping there wouldn't be anymore graphic descriptions of torture even though there was ample threat that such was just about to happen!!! My heart was in my throat throughout in spite of my sense that the book would end with a Hollywood ending. Surprise! Surprise! Hollywood ending, yes. But in addition there was a totally unexpected twist that got a good guffaw out of me. Loved it. Another surprise - there was even some philosophizing by the psychiatrist main character that gives food for thought in light of all that happened. As a psychotherapist, myself, I am well aware of how we can never be sure of how our supposedly brilliant (at least in our own minds) interventions will affect our clients and/or others in their close circles. Hope I never have a client with a son like in this book. But I am still thinking about the implications of making comments, some of them off-the-cuff, that we may think are illuminating, helpful, life-changing when, in fact, they may be inconsiderate or even hurtful. Thanks for a good intelligent read, Peter James.

When Gloria Lamark, an actress long past her prime, can't face the end of her career and commits suicide, Thomas, her mentally unstable son, decides someone has to pay for the loss of his beloved mother. The target of his revenge campaign is high profile psychiatrist Michael Tennent whom the actress had seen for therapy sessions. A cat-and-mouse game commences in which the psychopath sets the rules and to which only he has all the clues.Very early in the novel the author shows the amount of violence (think Thomas Harris) that the actress' son is capable of. This resulted in me being very anxious whenever one of the "good guys" seemed to fall into one of the traps set by the highly intelligent Thomas Lamark. Later in the book, when some of the many plotlines come together, the pressure on the criminal increases and culminates in a gripping showdown.The only problem I had with the book is that some things seemed too coincidental. For example there is a secondary character who just happens to drop a name out of the blue when the plot threatens to go nowhere. Apart from that "Denial" is a very suspenseful thriller that reads quickly and is almost impossible to put down.