Mortal Fear

Although this book contains more prurient sex and more gory violence than I prefer in a novel, instead of putting it down in disgust, I couldn't stop reading. This is testament to Greg Iles very strong plotting skills, as the tension in Mortal Fear never abated. It is also testament to his even stronger characterizations. The characters in this book are real and smart and likeable, even if any one of them could be the one who is killing off women from EROS, an online erotic discussion service and taking a surgical momento from each victim. Harper Cole, the Systems Operator who connects the killings and comes forward, is ensconced in the turmoil surrounding his very Southern family. They include his physician wife Drewe, who has a great deal of hostility towards EROS; his ex-cover model sister in law Erin and her surgeon husband Patrick, whose marriage difficulties are spinning out of control; and a father-in-law with friends in high places who makes Jesse Helms look like a liberal crusader for civil rights and racial relations. With his friend and fellow SysOp Myles, whose brilliance is unparrelleled in Harper's experience, there are plenty of suspects for the serial killings. Iles's writing is very intelligent and always at least three steps ahead of the reader.This book sucked away three days of my life, which is my way of saying: read it! Although there is little socially redeeming value in this novel, it's a very smart thriller and intensely escapist.

I've read plenty of books, none however that grab me the way Iles books do. I've read each of his books, and none of them have lasted longer than four days in my hands. In Mortal Fear he creates a character, with amazing development, that scared me so badly, I had nightmares about this guy. When and if you read it, you will demand to be left alone for the last hundred pages or so, just struggling to get through it. You will constantly tell yourself to stop reading, but you will be unable to do so. It is incredible.Iles is a terrific author, writing about Nazi Germany, racial tensions in the south, on-line stalkers, and kidnapping. I could argue for hours over which is his best book, Spandau Phoenix, Mortal Fear, or The Quiet Game, without ever coming to a conclusion.

The tension was so great while I read this novel, there were times when I didn't think I wanted to finish the book. Greg Iles' serial killer is one of the most frightening characters in modern suspense writing. The killer, who goes by a number of aliases on the internet, is evil incarnate. His chilling biography alone is enough to write a novel about. It is, among many other parts of this book, a stroke of genius.Mr. Iles has done a highly magnificent and intelligent job of creating a plot that holds you and won't let you go. As I said, there were times I didn't think I could read to the end of MORTAL FEAR--not because I didn't like the writing, but because I didn't think my heart could stand the constant tension that just kept mounting through every chapter to the very end. Reading "The Silence of the Lambs" was the last time a book had that much impact. I do a LOT of reading, so my hat is off to Greg Iles for his great writing.Halfway through finishing MORTAL FEAR, I immediately hunted down the rest of Iles' novels which, alas, are too few. I have added him to my very short list of favorite writers, the other two being Nelson DeMille and Elizabeth George. All three writers use character development, detail and excellent plotting to create novels that are intelligent, riveting, and just plain old fashioned good reading.

This is the best suspense novel I have read in ages. If you like psychological suspense and you're familiar with the Internet (of course you are; you're here, aren't you? ) you will eat this novel! Harper Cole runs EROS, an online sex chatroom service, and begins to suspect foul play when women customers begin to disappear from the service but haven't cancelled their expensive subscriptions. He discovers one of the women has been brutally murdered and suspects the killer is also an EROS client. The dialogue is excellent, the storyline makes it almost impossible to put down, and the characters are well defined. And some of his descriptions of emotions and human nature were enough to make me stop and marvel at how good this guy is. And this happened about every 10 pages. Greg Iles has two previous novels, Spandau Phoenix and Black Cross, both with Nazi Germany themes. They are definitely on my list now!