Satan's Daughter: Book Three in the Terrell Newman Detective Series (Terrell Newman Detective)

Rating:
Summary: Riveting from start to finish
Review: This is an exceptionally gripping book that is rich in character and unexpected turns of events. The author plays on common perceptions and prejudices to lead us into assumptions which are often turned on their heads - and in doing so makes the reader question his/her own frames of reference and the prejudices they give rise to. This book cuts through stereotypes and presents an array of vividly realized characters, from the central figure Terrell Newman - a wonderful and extremely sympathetic character - down to even the smallest walk-on characters, like "Millie", a guy who runs a diner in a small Texas town, to the forensic archeologist who is never happier than when he's digging up long-buried bodies. The ending is a real chiller.

The author has reinvented the detective genre and given mystery and suspense lovers all they could wish for, with a lot more thrown in. It has much greater depth of characterization than you find in most thrillers, with the pace of a James Patterson novel and the kind of forensic detail you'll find Patricia Cornwell (though thankfully he doesn't go in for as much forensic detail as Cornwell, whose description of autopsies I tend to skim through as quickly as possible). Added to that are the psychological insights he wraps his characters in. One of the things I find frustrating with Cornwell and Patterson (even though I find them unputdownable) is the fact that the characters often leave many doubts and unanswered questions behind them from a psychological point of view (Scarpetta and Merino aside in Cornwell's case). Taylor's characters are all very vivid and believable - even the most bizarre ones.