<p>The Killing Lessons<br />Saul Black<br />Hachette<br />2016, pp 408, Rs 399<br /><br /></p>.<p>Don’t let the innocuous first line of the book, The Killing Lessons, fool you. The author begins by inviting you into the delicious cookie-scented kitchen of one of his heroines, Rowena Cooper, and just when you are ready to step into her world and drift into a warm and fuzzy environment of a happy home, you are jolted out of your stupor with the next few words in the book: “She saw two men in the back hallway, one of them holding a shotgun and the other a long blade...” <br /><br />How could such a thing happen to her, thought Rowena? Why had she left the back door open? Why did she have to realise that “Your whole life could turn out to be nothing but you waiting to meet your own giant stupidity.”<br /><br />If those chilling opening lines of the book were not enough to hook you, there is much more that will grip you in the plot as it races to a finish. The book is about 2 serial killers who are on the loose, and a homicide detective named Valerie Hart who is working on the case. <br /><br />The story opens with a crime against a mother who lives in an isolated home in Colorado with her 2 children. The 2 killers, who travel around America, abducting, torturing and killing young women, have now found their next victims. The mother and her son soon meet their end, but her 10-year-old daughter, Nell, manages to escape.<br /><br />Meanwhile, in San Francisco, detective Hart is working tirelessly on the case while battling her own personal demons. She is determined to bring the killers to book, even as they get ready to pounce on young Nell and make her their next victim. Other characters are also intertwined into the story. <br /><br />Carla is an FBI agent who is watching Valerie’s every move, Angelo is a novelist who wants to spend some quiet time in his woodland cabin, but is soon embroiled in the case and later, the reader meets young and lovely Claudia, who is abducted by the killers. Will the killers wreak more havoc before the cops can swoop in? What happens to Nell? What is the motivation behind such appalling crimes? These are the questions that will keep you riveted to the book, as it takes you on a roller-coaster ride of terrifying scenes, gruesome acts of cruelty and the warped mind games of 2 brutal psychopaths.<br /><br />A thread of hope runs through the entire book and the reader always senses that wrongs will be righted eventually, and that the criminals will be caught in time. But one is not prepared for the horrific scenes, nor is one able to predict the extent of the derangement of the killers. There is nothing extravagant, however, in the writer’s style. He does not give unnecessary details and ramble on and on about his characters. His writing is always controlled, succinct and elegant.<br /><br />The book falls into the category of dark crime fiction and the reader gets an up close and personal view of everything that goes on in the mind of a killer and his victim. The vivid portrayal of crime in the book could either appeal to a hard-core crime fiction fan or put you off dark thrillers forever. The narrative is taut and the story has twists and thrills throughout, but faint-hearted readers may not appreciate the grisly scenes and the extreme crimes.<br /><br />Saul Black is the pseudonym of Glen Duncan, who has written other acclaimed novels in his real name, and the author is known for his unpredictable and fascinating themes and ideas. The excellent plotting and the fine denouement of his stories have made him a one-of-a-kind author. <br /><br />The Killing Lessons is fascinating due to the sheer pace of the story. The reader is taken through a labyrinth of horror and depravity. This new style of writing is in the news for its graphic depiction of crime. <br /><br />This is not a book about an ambling detective who pounces on one clue after another in gentle sequence. Nor is it about a crack team of investigators who solve cases with the sheer brilliance of their minds. Everyone in this book is flawed, in one way or the other, and crime is shown to be what it is, as a terrible aberration of the human mind. This makes the story much more believable and engaging, but fans of light, tepid and unhurried crime fiction would not find such vivid realism appealing.<br /><br />If you are brave enough to take on a story on the dark world of serial killers, this novel promises non-stop thrills and one shocking revelation after another.<br /><br /></p>
<p>The Killing Lessons<br />Saul Black<br />Hachette<br />2016, pp 408, Rs 399<br /><br /></p>.<p>Don’t let the innocuous first line of the book, The Killing Lessons, fool you. The author begins by inviting you into the delicious cookie-scented kitchen of one of his heroines, Rowena Cooper, and just when you are ready to step into her world and drift into a warm and fuzzy environment of a happy home, you are jolted out of your stupor with the next few words in the book: “She saw two men in the back hallway, one of them holding a shotgun and the other a long blade...” <br /><br />How could such a thing happen to her, thought Rowena? Why had she left the back door open? Why did she have to realise that “Your whole life could turn out to be nothing but you waiting to meet your own giant stupidity.”<br /><br />If those chilling opening lines of the book were not enough to hook you, there is much more that will grip you in the plot as it races to a finish. The book is about 2 serial killers who are on the loose, and a homicide detective named Valerie Hart who is working on the case. <br /><br />The story opens with a crime against a mother who lives in an isolated home in Colorado with her 2 children. The 2 killers, who travel around America, abducting, torturing and killing young women, have now found their next victims. The mother and her son soon meet their end, but her 10-year-old daughter, Nell, manages to escape.<br /><br />Meanwhile, in San Francisco, detective Hart is working tirelessly on the case while battling her own personal demons. She is determined to bring the killers to book, even as they get ready to pounce on young Nell and make her their next victim. Other characters are also intertwined into the story. <br /><br />Carla is an FBI agent who is watching Valerie’s every move, Angelo is a novelist who wants to spend some quiet time in his woodland cabin, but is soon embroiled in the case and later, the reader meets young and lovely Claudia, who is abducted by the killers. Will the killers wreak more havoc before the cops can swoop in? What happens to Nell? What is the motivation behind such appalling crimes? These are the questions that will keep you riveted to the book, as it takes you on a roller-coaster ride of terrifying scenes, gruesome acts of cruelty and the warped mind games of 2 brutal psychopaths.<br /><br />A thread of hope runs through the entire book and the reader always senses that wrongs will be righted eventually, and that the criminals will be caught in time. But one is not prepared for the horrific scenes, nor is one able to predict the extent of the derangement of the killers. There is nothing extravagant, however, in the writer’s style. He does not give unnecessary details and ramble on and on about his characters. His writing is always controlled, succinct and elegant.<br /><br />The book falls into the category of dark crime fiction and the reader gets an up close and personal view of everything that goes on in the mind of a killer and his victim. The vivid portrayal of crime in the book could either appeal to a hard-core crime fiction fan or put you off dark thrillers forever. The narrative is taut and the story has twists and thrills throughout, but faint-hearted readers may not appreciate the grisly scenes and the extreme crimes.<br /><br />Saul Black is the pseudonym of Glen Duncan, who has written other acclaimed novels in his real name, and the author is known for his unpredictable and fascinating themes and ideas. The excellent plotting and the fine denouement of his stories have made him a one-of-a-kind author. <br /><br />The Killing Lessons is fascinating due to the sheer pace of the story. The reader is taken through a labyrinth of horror and depravity. This new style of writing is in the news for its graphic depiction of crime. <br /><br />This is not a book about an ambling detective who pounces on one clue after another in gentle sequence. Nor is it about a crack team of investigators who solve cases with the sheer brilliance of their minds. Everyone in this book is flawed, in one way or the other, and crime is shown to be what it is, as a terrible aberration of the human mind. This makes the story much more believable and engaging, but fans of light, tepid and unhurried crime fiction would not find such vivid realism appealing.<br /><br />If you are brave enough to take on a story on the dark world of serial killers, this novel promises non-stop thrills and one shocking revelation after another.<br /><br /></p>
