Publisher's Weekly Review
In Moore's second gruesome outing for NYPD homicide detective James Sakura (after 2003's A Cruel Season for Dying), a serial killer is preying on young Manhattan women. He suffocates them, surgically rearranges their internal organs to form a kind of mirror image, then dumps their bodies in the trash. But as Sakura, partner Michael Darius and forensic psychiatrist Wilhelmina French try to untangle the meaning of this ritualistic violence, the killer shifts gears, murdering Darius's ex-wife and kidnapping their twin toddlers. Readers looking for a motive for the killer's psychopathology may be disappointed, as throughout the novel he remains an unfathomable monster. Both detectives are interesting, especially Sakura with his Zen-like detachment and dogged determination. Another clever conceit is his Japanese wife Hanae-blind but gifted with a kind of New Age vision-but she functions too much as part of Sakura's backstory (she played a larger role in A Cruel Season for Dying). The other characters are essentially stock-the acerbic coroner, the ambitious TV crime reporter, a few potential suspects. The pieces of the genre puzzle are all here, but the whole is less than the sum of the parts. Agent, Mel Berger at William Morris. (July 27) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A modern-day Ripper targets pretty young women from Manhattan's downtown club scene. Japanese-American homicide detective James Sakura and his wife Hanae are still mending their relationship from the damage inflicted by Sakura's last big case (A Cruel Season for Dying, 2003), when Sakura had an affair with a coworker and Hanae, who is blind, was kidnapped and nearly killed by a multiple murderer. Now Sakura's leading the investigation into what the tabloids are calling "The Visqueen Killer," a serial sadist who brutalizes his female victims and rearranges their internal organs before tightly wrapping them in plastic. As creepy cuts from the killer's perspective, supplemented by the insights of Sakura's consultant, Dr. Wilhelmina "Willie" French, provide the reader some insight into the twisted pathology of his m.o., sexy, ambitious TV journalist Zoe Kahn again proves a thorn in Sakura's side by leaking some of the case's new developments via her ongoing relationship with police detective Johnny Rozelli. As the death toll mounts, the killer inexplicably drifts away from his profile and progressively closer to Sakura. Unbeknownst to everyone but the reader, Zoe is on the killer's radar screen. So too are the children of Margot Redmond, ex-wife of Michael Darius, one of Sakura's top detectives and his best friend. Moore creates a world of danger and paranoia that gets under the skin, but mystery fans may be disappointed by the fuzzy puzzle. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Still recovering from the deeply personal tragedy inflicted by the serial killer in Cruel Season for Dying 0 (2003), Lieutenant James Sakura of the NYPD faces another onslaught by a ritualistic murderer, this one preying on women. To catch New Jack (as in the Ripper), Sakura again enlists help from profiler Dr. Wilhelmina French and his long-suffering ex-partner Michael Darius. But the killer's bizarre fantastical world shifts and changes, keeping the investigators off balance until a mother is murdered and her twin boys kidnapped, bringing the investigation, once again, tragically close to home. Revelatory snippets bring the killer's past into the present, giving readers a visceral glimpse of a tortured mind with an ever-increasing appetite for sex-murder; Moore leaves little to the imagination as he spins out the story, which unfolds in a turbulent metropolis where unspeakable behavior finds a comfortable home. A few odd twists muddy the plot, but momentum never lags, and just when relief seems in sight, there's a final, quirky surprise. --Stephanie Zvirin Copyright 2004 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Taking charge of another serial murder investigation, NYPD's Lt. James Sakura (A Cruel Season for Dying) focuses on a perpetrator whose victims, snatched at raves or underground clubs, wind up as bizarre amateur-autopsy experiments. Three more cases increase pressure on Sakura, who must also handle the return of his blind wife from Japan, where she's been trying to recover from trauma involved in Sakura's first venture. Detailed police procedure alternates with glimpses of killer psychology-even childhood violence and cannibalism. A well-crafted second effort and essential for most collections. Moore lives in Louisiana. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
