Silent Victim-C.E. Lawrence

Silent Victim
C.E. Lawrence
Pinnacle, Dec 7 2010, $6.99
ISBN: 9780786021499

NYPD forensic psychiatrist Lee Campbell receives a call at home from former patient Ana Watkins. Reluctantly he lets her in his apartment. She tells him someone is following her; he has doubts that this is true, but tells her to call the police.

Meanwhile NYPD asks Lee to help on a case. Two apparent suicides died within a week of each other; one was electrocuted in the tub while the other was found floating down the East River. Each has GBH in their blood and a suicide note written by the killer surfaces. A third victim with GBH in her system surfaces; a suicide note is found in her home, but written by someone else. That last deceased is Ana found in Spuyten Duyvil. Although the police work the cat and mouse game with the serial killer, Lee is most determined to catch this psychopath as he ignored Ana’s fears.

This vivid chilling serial killer thriller will have readers jumping at every sound because the plot seems plausible. The hero has issues mostly with an inability to move passed the disappearance of his sister though he intellectualizes that he must do so. Instead he buries himself in his police work and somewhat with his girlfriend, but she has issues to from her work as a body parts identifier of those who died at 9/11 Ground Zero. Her decision for a time-out in their relationship sends Lee into an even deeper depression; his answer is a defense mechanism of drilling deeper into his police work. Although serial killer thrillers glut the market including Lee’s previous case Silent Screams, C.E. Lawrence’s flawed champion makes for a strong tale as readers will paraphrase Abraham Lincoln: A shrink who heals himself has a fool for a patient.

Harriet Klausner