(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Dr. Lucas Madden is a neuroscientist-turned-FBI profiler who first gained global recognition for cloning the ripper gene and showing its dysfunction in the brains of psychopaths. Later, as an FBI profiler, Madden achieved further notoriety by sequencing the DNA of the world's most notorious serial killers and proposing a controversial "damnation algorithm" that could predict serial killer behavior using DNA alone.
Now, a new murderer-the Snow White Killer-is terrorizing women in the Mississippi Delta. When Mara Bliss, Madden's former fiancée, is kidnapped, he must track down a killer who is always two steps ahead of him. Only by entering the killer's mind will Madden ultimately understand the twisted and terrifying rationale behind the murders-and have a chance at ending the psychopath's reign of terror.

*3.5 stars*

There are a number of things to like about this novel:

* The pacing: every good thriller novel needs to be able to ride wave after wave of undulating action, mystery and suspense. This books hits you like a tidal wave in that regard - when it needs to be tight and gripping, it is. When it needs to slow down and let us discover what is going on, it does.
* The characters: Again, something every thriller needs are characters to love and hate. The killer was clever and sly - but the reader still wanted him to be taken down. Madden was interesting, if not a little wordy, at times.
* The location: Mississippi sounds like a gorgeous place. While the author didn't really get into any real details, his knowledge of the area is quite obvious and it comes across easily in the writing.
*The murders: Different enough to be interesting and never really fell into the territory of gory or too descriptive...but I got the idea that they weren't pretty scenes.

All of that is fantastic in a novel. And I really think, with a bit of editing, it could have been a 4 or 5 star book. But for the editing...

The biggest thing that distracted me from the plot was the repetitive phrases, especially in the dialogue. I couldn't really remember one for sure, but thankfully another reviewer must have been keeping track. Here is the thing that really got me:

"... Terry's going to screen the DNA from the blood samples on the victims' foreheads. From the last two victims at least."
"Why?"
'Because the bloody messages being left on the victims' foreheads aren't from the victims' own blood."
The video monitor was silent as Raritan and Parkman both digested this. "You're sure?"
"Yes. We've checked and rechecked. The DNA from each victim's forehead never matches that victim's own DNA, in either case."

Can you imagine what that is like to try and get through? Very frustrating and definitely took away from all the good work the author had accomplished in other areas. And the sad thing is that it should have been picked up in editing before going to print. I think the author was letdown there.

Overall, a very good mystery/thriller that could have been top-notch with a decent editor.


Paul
ARH

This was an interesting read, not really the type of book I typically go in for, but it was well-written and fast-paced. There were some assumptions and jumps in logic that were made that I couldn't really keep up with, but fans of psychological thrillers should enjoy it.