157. Faces of Fear

Faces of Fear by John Saul

Pages: 324
Finished: Sept. 29, 2008
First Published: Aug. 12, 2008
Genre: psychological suspense, thriller
Rating: 3.5/5

Reason for Reading: I received the book for review from Random House Canada. Qualifies for the Rip III challenge.

First sentence:

He had to look.

Comments: A plastic surgeon's wife, a famous model, kills herself because she was disfigured in an horrific accident. A year later plastic surgeon Conrad Dunn and divorced Risa Shaw are married. At the same time a serial killer is on the loose. Women are being murdered for their body parts; a nose here, a pair of ears there, or a set of lips somewhere else. Risa's ex-husband is the editor for the local TV station and one of their top reporters is using the serial killer case to move up the career ladder.

I have only read John Saul's earlier work and was expecting a horror/supernatural tale, which this is not. However, it does contain the same gripping, chilling feel of something terribly unnatural going on. I enjoyed the book on the same level as I do other serial killer books (one of my favourite genres). The dialogue was a bit off, it felt unrealistic and fake at times but otherwise my only problem was that I thought I'd figured out who the killer was early on and while I was right, there was a big twist which surprised me enough to not be let down by solving part of the mystery. Regular fan's of Saul's will enjoy the book, as will those just looking for a quick read serial killer type of thriller.