Secrets of a Serial Killer by Rosie Walker
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 20th August 2021
Published: 17th July 2021
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
An edge-of-your-seat serial killer thriller that you won’t be able to put down!
There it is: FEAR. It’s crawling all over her face and in her eyes, like a swarm of insects, and it’s all because of HIM.
A serial killer has been terrorising Lancaster for decades, longer than should ever have been possible. The police are baffled, eluded at every turn by the killer whose victims span generations. Speculation is rife among the true crime forums; is someone passing on their gruesome trade?
Every local mother's worst nightmare has become Helen Summerton's reality; he’s taken her daughter, Zoe. As the clock runs down so do her chances of survival. Can Helen unearth the secrets of the killer before it’s too late?
A gripping serial killer thriller that you won’t be able to put down. Perfect for fans of The Whisper Man, What You Did and Don’t Even Breathe.
MY REVIEW:
O.M.G!! What an edge-of-your-seat thrill-ride! When I first perused the reviews for this book, I was wondering if it was going to be another average read. But now that I've finished I have to wonder...did I read the same book? Maybe the idea of such a fascinating concept married with the dark and disturbing in such an original and unique way is what drew me in and kept me there throughout. Because seriously, SECRETS OF A SERIAL KILLER is so well thought out and cleverly written that the suspense just keeps on building and a steady pace until...BOOM! The story unravels in a mass of psychological twists and thrills and nail-biting suspense that will have you turning the pages and guessing until the very end! Honestly, this is such an addictive and exciting it is hard to believe that this is the author's debut.
The first piece of expertise is the setting. Everyone loves an old gothic Victorian building bereft of life but for the ghosts that lurk its now empty halls. It's looming structure a sinister silhouette against a blackened sky in the half light, a face in the window, a light in the shadows...an atmospheric eeriness that is both creepy and exciting.
The author expertly set the scene within the first chapters as Helen Summerton takes her morning stroll with her dog Alfie in the grounds of the now abandoned Lancaster Lune Asylum. Alfie runs off in search of squirrels or something else that grabbed his attention with Helen hot on his heels as she soon finds herself within the skeletal remains of the building. Alfie returns present her with a gift. A ballet slipper, blue speckled with a brown rusted colour. A fleeting thought as to whose it could be before the looming figure of a security guard reminds her that she is trespassing. His presence alerts Alfie whose hackles are instantly raised and the dog gives a low growl at the unwelcome intruder who then ushers them from the building and its grounds.
Helen is an architect who is part of the team re-designing and re-structuring the old mental hospital into "luxury living spaces" - not flats! And she has no idea how this very building is going to haunt her nightmares to come...and not in the way she thinks with endless conference calls with the council and developers about the re-designing of the space. No, Lancaster Lune Asylum is going to factor into her nightmares in a whole other aspect.
Seventeen year old Zoe is planning a night out with friends at a local pub. Her boyfriend Dane picks her up from her dad's place not entirely sure how much he is going to enjoy the night ahead of them. As soon as they arrive, Dane meets Max, a true crime fanatic obsessed with conspiracy theories that plague a once well-known serial killer from the area - Leonard McVitie, who died three decades ago in the old Asylum overlooking the city. As the boys talk, Zoe goes off in search of Abbie who appears to be languishing herself over an older guy at the jukebox. A bit rich, considering her boyfriend Max is just a few feet away. But Abbie is three sheets to the wind and encouraging Zoe to come and meet Paul. Torn between not wanting to be a part of Abbie's self-destructive behaviour and an instinct to keep her friend safe, Zoe tells Dane they'll catch them up as the boys move off to another pub. That's the last time they see her.
Waking up in what she perceives a box that jostles around, Zoe has no idea what happened or where she is. She vaguely recalls Abbie encouraging her to pick up this guy but then after that...it gets a bit fuzzy. Surely she didn't have that much to drink. Her head hurts and her eyes close as she drifts off to sleep once again.
Eleven year old Thomas is not a happy camper. His mother has just told him that his 10 year old cousin Maggie is coming to stay and he must share his room with her. He used to like Maggie staying but she's a bit bossy these days. Still she can be fun sometimes...and today she has an idea. To find a caravan that's nestled in the depths of the woods that they can use as their den, a hideout from the grown-ups. Thomas thinks this is a pretty good idea. But the caravan, when thy find it, turns out to be old, dank and smelly and Thomas isn't sure he likes it much there. But Maggie is on a mission. And when they leave there to return home, Thomas isn't sure he wants to return there with the silhouette of the old asylum looming over them. It's distinctly creepy. But return they must because Maggie left something behind and they must find it before her older brother discovers it missing. It's their return that turns into a whole other adventure neither child had anticipated.
When retired detective Tony calls his ex-wife early the next morning to report that Zoe did not come home last night, Helen's world begins to crumble. She rings Zoe's friends, she calls the police...but no one seems to take her concerns seriously. Not even Tony. Except her neighbour Janet Mitchell, a journalist who has been working on highlighting the mysterious disappearances of teenage girls for the past few decades. And now it seems Zoe has joined their ranks. Between her reports and the links to theories about deceased serial killer McVitie, Helen begins to fear for her daughter's life. Can Helen save her daughter before it's too late? And it's not until Janet goes to wake her son Thomas and cousin Maggie the following morning, that she discovers their beds have not been slept in that her world, too, comes crashing down.
But how is Zoe's disappearance and that of two adventurous missing children who should have been tucked up in bed connected? And what has it to do with the old asylum and a dead serial killer?
The clever concept in SECRETS OF A SERIAL KILLER tells of one serial killer passing down his knowledge to another who thus passes their knowledge down also, therefore creating generations born from one sadistic serial killer. What makes them undetectable is that there is no trace of their victims ever and no trace of the perpetrator either. So the crimes can continue over the years undetected and no one is none the wiser. But someone has missed these teenage girls who disappeared in the 1980s and 1990s and yet they have disappeared without a trace. And then the disappearances stopped. Or did they?
The story unfolds through the narratives of Helen, Zoe, Thomas and "Him", weaving together a clever tale that is made more interesting by the imposing presence of the abandoned asylum that connects them. There was also the inclusion of snippets from the dark web and true crime fanatics' reports under the guise of "Dark Urban Reporter" theorising about deceased serial killer McVitie and the unexplained disappearances thenceforth outlining the possibility of a protege who continued the work of McVitie long after his death. And then there is the star of the story...ALFIE!!
A fast paced read that will have you hooked from the very beginning - well, it did me - SECRETS OF A SERIAL KILLER is captivating, addictive and unique in its concept as well as being dark, disturbing and distinctively creepy. The gothic atmosphere of the imposing abandoned asylum created a deeply unnerving eeriness that was chilling and yet completely absorbing. Set over a course of three days, this tightly drawn thriller that is a quick unputdownable read packs a powerful punch right up to its shocking end.
Pure adrenaline pumping, tense and terrifying, SECRETS OF A SERIAL KILLER is intense from beginning to end that is a twisted, ruthless and compelling read that gets you right in the mind of the monster and his victim. It is a nightmare from which you can escape...even if it haunts you thereafter.
Dark, disturbing and a brilliant debut! Perfect for fans of the more darker twisted type of psychological thriller.
I would like to thank #RosieWalker, #Netgalley and #OneMoreChapter for an ARC of #SecretsOfASerialKiller in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
She lives in Edinburgh with her husband Kevin and their dog Bella.
Social Media links:
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