THE ARCHITECT by Keith Ablow
Keith Ablow has written several "Frank Clevenger" books in the past, but THE ARCHITECT is the first one I have read. Clevenger is a forensic psychiatrist which makes sense, since this is Ablow's background. You can say he knows his subject matter thoroughly. But as credible as the story is, the germ of writing that makes a suspense thriller totally gripping is missing.
It is difficult to enter a series of stories mid-stream. An outstanding writer can pull it off. Jeffrey Deaver (THE BONE COLLECTOR) makes each of his Lincoln Rhyme/Amelia Sachs' stories stand-alone. In THE ARCHITECT the reader feels he is required to paddle faster through the pages in order to keep up with a story that appears half-grown on page one.
Clevenger is involved with Whitney McCormick, director of the FBI Behavioral Sciences Unit. They obviously have a past that impacts their present relationship. The reader only gets glimpses into what that past involved. The same is true of Clevenger's relationship with his adopted son Billy. It seems a lot of problems have surfaced between the two of them but the reader only gets hints at what they were and are.
Still the case presented in the book is an interesting one about a madman playing God. A serial killer is murdering seemingly random people and leaving their bodies partially dissected. The FBI wants Clevenger on the case and Whitney tells him this. However he does have a history of alcoholism and that could negate his talents.
Meanwhile "The Architect" goes about his business of murdering and dissecting, and no one has a clue to his identity. He covers his tracks so thoroughly he almost seems invisible. Almost.
Ablow is a pretty good writer. He knows how to build a mystery and how to create solid characters. But he tends to bog down in the rhetoric of the killer and over analyzes his motivations. Each paragraph that does this slows down the impact of the story.
Maybe it is time for Ablow to start all over with a new character and not so many loose ends waiting to unravel. It could make his next novel a better one.
THE ARCHITECT is published by St Martin's Press. It contains 289 pages and sells for $24.95.