Suspect

Michael Robotham, a former investigative journalist from Britain and Australia has crafted a marvelous debut novel bringing back vivid memories of Jonathan Kellerman's "The Silent Partner" or Jeffrey Barlough's "The House in the High Wood". "The Suspect" is a very tight, exciting thriller that stays intently focused on character and psychology supported by the leanest of realistic plots somehow managing, despite this simplicity, to be both bizarre and frightening at the same time! How wonderful is that? Joe O'Loughlin is a successful career psychiatrist blessed with a wonderful loving wife and child. But when Catherine McBride, a former patient who once filed suit against him for sexual misconduct, is found murdered, horribly mutilated and buried in a shallow grave, O'Loughlin finds himself at the top of the list of the police suspects. Coincidentally occurring on the night of the murder, his alibi is his sole marital mis-step with ex-prostitute Elisa but a misguided sense of honour coupled with an all too human male fear of the results for his marriage means he keeps mum. Unlike other more mundane, mainstream thrillers, "The Suspect" makes no attempt to lead the reader too far astray with a typical collection of twists, turns or red herrings. The culprit, Robert Moran, another very deeply disturbed patient of O'Loughlin's practice is revealed to us early in the novel. The goose bumps in this novel are forced on us by the dark, creepy dialogue of Moran's therapy sessions and O'Loughlin's heart-rending attempts to maintain honour, professionalism and client confidentiality in the face of the almost certain knowledge of more murders to come. DI Vincent Ruiz piles up an astonishing array of circumstantial evidence and like The Da Vinci Code's Bezu Fache, the proverbial bull terrier with a bone who will not let go, Ruiz doggedly pursues O'Loughlin as his prime suspect in the brutal string of murders. The characterization and humanity in the novel is served up in monstrous helpings with lots of garnish - O'Loughlin deals with the onset of Parkinson's disease and its effects on his daily living; Elisa, the reformed prostitute struggles bravely with her past and strong affection for O'Loughlin; Catherine McBride, the first victim, is a very troubled victim herself dealing with the mental demons of a difficult up-bringing and self-mutilation; and Ruiz, realizing his old-style, blunt, brutish methods of policing have dated him and are threatening his career, is determined to bring the murderer to justice against all odds. A complex novel, no doubt, but so well-constructed that I had no difficulty following all of the well-maintained threads and plots! "The Suspect" is a fast-paced, nail-biting, believable and authentic thriller that deserves far more press and acclaim than it has received. A five star read for sure! Paul Weiss

Michael Robotham's debut novel is a psychological thriller that is deeply involving, running smoothly from the narrative of psychologist Joseph O'Loughlin. Suspect takes us into a dark world of troubled minds and we watch the beginning of the disintegration of a strong family life. This was a book that I found (at the risk of flying straight into overused cliché) difficult to put down. The story begins in the middle of a tense situation as we are greeted with O'Loughlin sitting on a London rooftop trying to talk down a young suicidal cancer patient. We are immediately given a sense of his capabilities as a psychologist not to mention the hint of roguishness that makes him an endearing character. He seems to have a perfect life with a beautiful wife and daughter and a successful practice. The only dark cloud hanging over the vital 42 year old is that he has been recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. As well as working in his day to day practice, O'Loughlin is the kind of man who gives up his time to counsel prostitutes in ways in which they might be able to work more safely. It's while talking at one of these gatherings that he meets Detective Inspector Vincent Ruiz, who has walked in with a picture of a murdered woman hoping to get her identified by one of the attendees. In the course of their confrontation, Ruiz decides that O'Loughlin's keen eye for detail and professional credits might be useful in providing some insights into the dead woman, so he invites him into the investigation as a consultant. The woman had been found in a shallow grave next to a London canal. She has multiple stab wounds over her body, all of them self-inflicted plus many old wounds on her arms and thighs indicating that she was a self-mutilator. Contrary to Ruiz's assumption, O'Loughlin tells him the woman is not a prostitute. He also believes she did not commit suicide but was murdered. It's not until after viewing the body that the stunning realisation dawns on Joseph O'Loughlin...he knows who the dead woman is, not only that, he knew her very well because she was once a patient of his. That he didn't immediately tell Ruiz about this makes the detective a little wary. Back within his practice, O'Loughlin has been meeting with Bobby Moran, a very disturbed person who has been describing violent dreams and is afraid that these dreams may begin to manifest themselves in his waking life. As the sessions progress, O'Loughlin can't help but notice the similarity in the details of Bobby's ramblings and certain aspects of the murder case that he is helping out on. Could it be possible that he is treating the murderer? But Ruiz is collecting evidence and the evidence isn't pointing at Bobby Moran, the evidence is pointing at Joseph O'Loughlin. The moment Joseph O'Loughlin goes from consultant to prime suspect is the moment that the story kicks up into a high speed desperate chase along an unpredictable road. O'Loughlin's life is in danger of falling apart

You have to pay close attention to the details. Past events and people's reactions are integral to this fast-paced well-written narrative. Joe O'Loughlin, a respected psychologist and family man is given a life changing medical diagnosis. Rather than going to his wife with the news, Joe turns to a former patient, ex-prostitute, Elisa Velasco, for comfort. Joe is well-known in the community particularly for recent heroic actions. He is asked by the police to help in a murder case. Joe never expected to have any connection to the victim, who everyone believes is a prostitute. However, he does, and his ugly history between him and Catherine McBride, is uncovered by the police. Joe quickly becomes their number one suspect. Joe reviews his case files, and realizes that one of his current patients is most likely the killer. It is nerve-rattling how this killer got himself involved in all aspects of Joe's life. Excellent debut novel that you will thoroughly enjoy!

The book keeps you racing from chapter to chapter, but when you take a breather you start thinking, My God, this book has too many twists. It would be enough if we had a slower story with the hero trying to deal with the onset of Parkinson's. It would be enough to read a novel in which the middle-aged hero has to come to terms with his surgeon father's apparent indifference, if not hostility, to his own practice as a psychoanalyst. It would have been an interesting story to hear of such a man's affair with a former prostitute. And then on top of all of this we are given an nastily complicated serial killer story, a tale so convoluted the word "Byzantine" may be properly used to describe it. And an inspector (Ruiz) who treats our hero (O'Loughlin) with the same fierce intensity of Inspector Javert in Les Miserables. Julianne, the beautiful and accomplished wife of the psychiatrist hero, was at one time the object of his best friend's affections, so that Joe and Jock are in a love triangle battling for Julianne's affections. By the time one hundred pages are done, you start wondering what incredible pit of complication you've gotten into ankle deep. Before you know it, you're up to your ass in confusion, but due to Robotham's infinitely painstaking plotting, and the narrator's wry humor, you wind up liking the state you're in. I can't see this book being the first in a long-running series with O'Loughlin, but I am very happy to hear that Michael Robotham is writing another book. This one already will win him legions of fans, both here in the USA and abroad.

The suspect of Michael Robotham's title is Joe O'Loughlin, a perceptive and well-meaning psychologist who, at the age of forty-two, has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. The news sends him into a spiral of self pity until a more immediate and terrible threat arises. Joe finds himself cast as the prime suspect in the unusually vicious murder of a young woman with whom he happens to have had an unpleasant history. Joe assumes at first, as we all probably would, that his innocence will eventually become evident to the dogged detective who has taken a dislike to him. But as the evidence against O'Loughlin adds up, the possibility of a lifetime of incarceration becomes terrifyingly real. With the police unwilling to credit his claim that a volatile patient of his is somehow behind the crime, Joe is forced to try to unravel the real killer's elaborate plot against him while on the run. Robotham tells the story of Joe's descent into a nightmarish conspiracy in spare, highly readable prose that advances the plot quickly. Joe's back story is fleshed out in brief reminiscences that never interrupt the flow of the narrative. The only disappointment in the book comes in the pivotal scenes of its penultimate chapter, when the dramatic action is too rushed and as a result difficult to follow. That aside, Robotham's Suspect is a gripping, well-written thriller that readers will be loath to put down. Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece