4.0 out of 5 stars
An Altogether Unique Female Serial Killer! - not to be missed, Dec 21 2010
By 79 Wistful Vista - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: NIGHTMARE LOGIC (Mass Market Paperback)
Carolyn is precise and purposeful--a unique, psychic, serial killer.
From the back cover:
"TWENTY YEARS AGO... Little redheaded Carolyn, eight years old, collects poisonous scorpions in the
desert outside of Tucson, Arizona. She has hunted snakes and other animals, but scorpions are her favorites-they're full of potential. She loves scorpions almost as much as she hates her new stepmother. One day, a particularly unpleasant accident conveniently and permanently removes Carolyn's stepmother from her life.
THE PRESENT... Who is the psychopath who has murdered sixteen young women in the desert outside of town? What sort of twisted mind could kill in such a grisly fashion-and why? A charismatic young reporter named Ben Quadrun is working the obit beat for the Tucson Sun and observing firsthand the hideous results of the killer's work, when he falls under the sexual spell of a woman with beautiful red hair-a woman named Carolyn who knows just what to do when she discovers that Ben is in love with someone else.
Here, woven within and without the everyday life of a burgeoning southwestern city, is a chilling story of love and fear, of passion and madness-of an electrifying cold-blooded killer who strikes swiftly and unexpectedly to the very heart of our darkest nightmares."
I discovered this book in 1995, and it's among my permanent collection of books.
In its pages, there is some lovely, memorable writing. There are "singing vending machines." I enjoyed the hint of possible psychic ability that Carolyn possessed--or maybe it was just intuition and imagination. It's best that this point was left to the reader to decide. It is fascinating to observe the workings of Carolyn's mind, also. The descriptions of eccentric Carolyn are haunting, and her house, and the strange collections, with which she chooses to surround herself.
While it's clear that this book was a first effort by its author, two of its main characters are young--early twenties, and so everything seems to fit, even if, in my opinion, Ben and especially his girlfriend, Nita weren't as interesting as Carolyn. The character of Carolyn Bergeron is a brilliant accomplishment, and makes this book worth reading. She is
one of the most unique creations I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, in fiction, and I do wish, somehow, Matthew Hall could incorporate her into
another novel.
She deserves to be better known!