Thursday 17 November 2011

Book Review: Instrument of Evil by Lori Lowthert


From Amazon.co.uk - "Rebekah Johnson has a really big secret, one she's pretty sure will end her new relationship with Scott. She'd like to tell him, but she anticipates his response would be to break up with her.Or report her to the police. Most likely both. Rebekah is a fledgling serial killer, and she's not ready to put killing aside. What's a young serial killer to do? Can she give up killing to save her relationship?"



Instrument of EvilThis book is narrated from Rebekah's point of view and charts her life and how she turned from a precocious child to a serial killer. As a youngster she thrills in lying and shop-lifting, and experiments with drugs, sex and alcohol yet she is determined to do well academically and maintain her status as the popular A grade girl. She is very self-aware and remains largely detached from other. Meeting Scott in a bar and starting a relationship with him makes her reflect on whether she can have a "normal" life in spite of her homicidal urges.


Rebekah is an interesting character, who goes about killing in a very analytical and controlled way. She becomes fascinated with psychology and applies the theory to herself. The story covers some material that will make the reader think about the nature of evil. In most books I would have found the amount of "tell" in the narrative a problem but in this book it seemed to fit with her matter of fact nature and while I would have liked a bit more "show" it was mostly forgiveable.


Considering it is a book that details a lot of murders from the killer's point of view I didn't find it particularly graphic, but those scenes coupled with a lot of sex might make it a bad read for some people. I enjoyed this book, which was a bit different to others I've read in this vein, and the sort of easy read I looked forward to going back to when I had to put it down. I'll definitely read the next installment.


Format: Kindle, review copy
My Rating: 3*

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