John Cray is a brilliant and meticulous serial killer. He kills for pleasure, he enjoys hunting women and taking their faces, revealing what he believes is their true selves. Although he's usually very careful about disposing the bodies, he doesn't count on one of his victims resurfacing from her shallow grave.

Elizabeth Palmer believes John Cray is a killer. She thinks he hunts woman down and then rips the skin from their faces, literally stealing their faces. But believing this and proving it are two very different things and, for many reasons, Elizabeth can't simply go to the police and voice her suspicions.

So Elizabeth watches Cray; she follows him, hoping to gather evidence, hoping to right a longtime wrong. It isn't long before Cray notices Elizabeth and quickly turns the tables on her; he convinces the police that Elizabeth is dangerous and that she's stalking him. Now Elizabeth is running from Cray and the police, and Cray will do anything to get his hands on Elizabeth and make her his next victim.

To be honest, I thought I'd hate this book after the disturbing violence in the prologue. I was thinking that Cray was going to be just another Hannibal Lecter wannabe. But after the first few chapters I was completely hooked.

Actually, more than completely hooked, I thought the lightening-paced thrills were going to give me a heart attack. So give yourself a few hours to read Stealing Faces one straight through, because you will not be able to put it down. Oh, and try to remember to come up for air once in a while-you'll need to catch your breath!

--Judith Flavell