This was a great twisty-turny psychological thriller and as soon as I finished I wanted to turn it over and start again! The novel begins with a sadistic killing broadcast live over the internet with Detective Robert Hunter watching on and trying to determine if this event is real or hoax. When the body turns up the reality of the situation becomes apparent.
Hunter and his partner Garcia embark on a hunt for the killer who is a computer genius, even outfoxing the FBI high flyers. The killer raises the stakes by allowing viewers over the internet to vote on the death method of his next victim and this provides an interesting thinking point. If you thought someone was about to be killed, would you vote on the method used? Would you watch? This novel as well as being an accomplished thriller which shows the murders from the killer, victim, onlooker and agent points of view makes you think about the implication of actions.
The novel talks about choices and the outcome as it builds is intense and surprising! The end of the novel is both satisfying and in keeping with the rest of the story not tamely tailing off and the murders are gory and unusual, if you’ve seen the SAW films expect something similar! If you are of a nervous disposition you may find yourself feeling uncomfortable. I wanted to get to the end to see how it would all happen, short chapters and just the right amount of technical information kept the novel moving along at a swift pace with enough characterisation that I felt I was getting to know them.
I would definitely recommend this book as a high quality novel but also as one that is thought provoking read it and you’ll see – would you be part of the pack and vote, absolving yourself of responsibility because everyone else is doing it, or would you be disgusted and pretend you had never come across pickadeath.com? 5/5
