Review - Torn by Casey Hill

Torn by Casey Hill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Blurb From Goodreads

Read the clues. Decode the science. Reveal the murderer.

That's Reilly Steel's mantra. Find the answers, solve the crime. But the Quantico-trained forensic investigator is finding her skills aren't enough when a ferociously intelligent killer strikes Dublin.

The modus operandi is as perplexing as it is macabre. What connects the two seemingly disparate, high-profile victims?
Their corpses refuse to give up their secrets and the crime scenes prove a forensic investigator's worst nightmare. Reilly soon suspects that she may be dealing with a killer - or killers - who know all about crime scene investigation.

The police are just as frustrated by the crimes' impenetrable nature and it's only when a third murder occurs - equally graphic and elaborate in its execution - that they discover that this particular killer is using a very specific blueprint for his crimes.

Who is the killer's next victim, the real target? And what's his endgame?


My Review

Forensic investigator Reilly Steel loves a challenge, examine the evidence, look for the clues and solve the crime. This case will challenge her to the max, the victims are killed in a different way and the crimes scenes are trying and unusual to say the least. The killer changes their MO and their seems to be no link to the victims, initially. It will take all of her skills, her team and a profiler to come together to try and catch a very intelligent and driven killer as the bodies are piling up and time is running out.

I think I am in the minority with this book as I didn't love it and I really struggled with it. There is quite a few characters in the book and I kept forgetting when another showed up what they had been doing in the previous chapter. The relationship between the police seemed strained and in some exchanges juvenile and childish, Lucy is a classic example of this. She is one of the younger members of the team but working for the lab in such a big profile case leads you to believe she is a capable individual however she is chastised for some actions and her response, I felt, was of a very young girl.

The profiler was very arrogant and cocky, I really disliked him and other than that I didn't have a huge reaction to any of the other characters. Chris, another officer, keeps flashing back to his past relationship with his ex which I couldn't understand the significance of it. It does become clear later but I found it quite annoying whilst in the dark about the reason for it.

The actual killer is always a step ahead and his killers are as shocking as they are unique however not a great deal of time is spent with him which is a shame. I think more insight as he went a long would have been good however it may have ruined the suspense of who the killer is. By the end you have your answers for just about everything however it takes a bit to get there with a few red herrings along the way. I have read this author before and would again but I don't think this is the best of their work. I struggled between giving this a 2 or a 3 but I feel a 2 would be to harsh as there is some good parts and the story itself is interesting, I just felt the focus was spread on too many characters. 3/5 for me this time.

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