Assuming a single killer, Butts decides to consult with Lee Campbell, a psychologist by trade on contract to the NYPD for cases in which the profile of the killer may be helpful in apprehending said killer. The third member of the team of investigators is Chuck Morton, the head of the Bronx Major Case Unit, and, coincidentally, Lee’s former college roommate. Lest things go too smoothly for the trio who has worked well together in the past, a fourth member of the team is added by the powers that be. New to the department is Elana Krieger, a woman who takes it as a challenge to hold her own among her male colleagues.

Predictably things are not moving fast enough for Elana so she decides to do a little investigating on her own. She suspects that there are some individuals that might have information about the case that frequent the Jack Hammer, a bar that caters to those of a variety of sexual persuasions. She attracts the attention of one young man who gives her some difficulty until the bartender, a man who goes by the name of Diesel, rescues her. Deciding she has had enough for one evening, she sets off for home. Before she goes far, she makes a mistake which she regrets. She accepts a free ride from a limousine driver.

Silent Victim is a competently written thriller that breaks no new ground in the genre. The main protagonists are all equal to their tasks although Lee Campbell appears to have demons of his own that periodically interrupt his train of thought and interfere with his ability to offer constructive insights into the case at hand. These issues are not resolved by the end of the book which may be a thread which the author intends to unravel in a subsequent story. There are places where the reader is asked to suspend disbelief or accept a sequence of events that while possible is not very probable. That being said the action proceeds in an orderly manner with little cause for whiplash on the reader’s part for abrupt changes in sequence or time.

As one might expect with a major character who is a psychologist, there are some parts which delve into matters of psyche and events in the past lives of characters dictating their actions in the present. There are also elements of the paranormal which play a minor role in the plot.

Some of Lee Campbell’s background and personal life are explored in more detail than is really necessary for the execution of the main plot line. This may be an attempt on the part of the author to expand on the personality of the main character either to allow readers to gain insight into this character’s psyche or to, as previously mentioned, provide the bare facts for a subsequent adventure. For the devout thriller reader these side excursions may slow down the pace of the action too much. For others who like all their loose ends tied up, frustration may result.

All told, Silent Victim holds the reader’s interest enough to encourage them to read until the final page, but there are a few rough spots that may cause critical readers some head scratching moments.

--Andy Plonka