Stavo un po' perdendo la voglia di leggere dei thriller, ma questo libro mi ha quasi entusiasmato e mi ha fatto tornare il desiderio di scoprire pagina dopo pagina la curiosità.
Ero anche curioso di leggere la prima avventura di Faletti e sono rimasto piacevolmente sorpreso.

Troppo lungo, forse

4/5 stars. Provided (aka borrowed) from my aunt whom i should probably return this book to anytime soon.

I really enjoyed it. Bumped it down after looking at reviews as i agree with few of the critiques. the romance was a bit meh and without that sub plot this book could've been diluted into a 300 page book. Every other aspect was great for me, especially since i'm new to the genre and am too aware with what's cliché and what not. the psychological aspects of some characters were really intriguing. Especially Celine and the killer.

Storia avvincente che spinge a continuare la lettura, ma pippozzo infinito. Faletti, da sceneggiatore, abbonda molto nelle descrizioni e nei dettagli, ma la trama poteva concludersi in gloria massimo a pagina 450, con un'altra cinquantina di pagine a ricamare la conclusione. E le successive 200 pagine? La risposta è no, a qualsiasi domanda che le riguarda.

Good book

Honestly, I didn't finish it but it was mostly because I wanted to move on to other things. I did read at least 350 or possibly almost 400 pages in Italian, and what I read I liked okay. A couple of things for me: first, it seemed predictable at least in terms of the characters. The main figure of the cop suffering the loss of his wife just made me think of Mel Gibson in "Lethal Weapon." You know, a guy sitting around in his trailer wishing he had done more. Second, I'm not much for this kind of book to begin with so that's another reason why I decided not to continue. I don't really want to read about serial killers and I'm noticing that I'm getting an increasingly lower level for violence. The thing I did like about this book is that it takes place in Monte Carlo and Nice and that was fun. It would be a good beach read. I know his books are popular -- they've been translated into several languages. When I read in his acknowledgments that he wanted to thank Jeffrey Deaver, that about summed it up for me -- one immensely popular author (whose work doesn't appeal to me) being thanked by another author who is becoming just as popular in Italy (and whose work doesn't appeal to me).

The basic idea and the connections between the characters are great, but the writing of this author has too many flaws to make me want to give this book a better rating. Some scenes are simply cheesy, his word choices and comparisons are too ornate for my liking and the entire story seems to be expanded over an unnecessary amount of pages. All in all the author had brilliant ideas, but apparently his writing skills couldn't keep up with his fantasy.

Warning: This review contains spoilers!

So where do I begin?

An intelligent serial killer on the rise in one of the most safest places in the world. Local police, Nicolas Hulot and FBI agent, Frank Ottobre are on the case to catch this sick killer.

What I Like.
1. The depth of each character.
Frank is recovering from his wife suicide.
Nicolas is dealing with his son's death and his wife's madness.
Helena is trying to escape her molester of a dad.
Celine's twisted method of pretending to be insane in order to stop Nicolas from going insane after their son's death.
But perhaps the most interesting character is Jean-Loup.

2. The identity of the killer

HOLY CRAP!


I definatley did not see that coming!

Jean-Loup, the famous radio presenter turns out to be the killer "Someone and No One".
No-One is very intelligent throughout the book. He manages to kill around 10 people without leaving a slightest clue behind. Of course, he did get caught in the end but events that led to his capture are purely fascinating. Not to mention, when his identity was revealed to the public, he STILL gave the police a hard time. He hid well and still killed people under everyone's noses.
Jean-Loup turns out to be Daniel Legrand. He was taught to fight by his militant father whom he hates becaus of the way he treats his difigured twin brother. He kills his brother in order to end his pain and his father and burns the house down. But soon he felt guilty for killing his brother whom he loved. So he breaks into his brother's grave and steals the body. In order to compensate for his actions, he gives his brother a new face. He kills others and literally peels their faces off.

What I didn't like
1. The love between Helena and Frank is cliche, boring and predictable. Not to mention they've only seen each other a couple of times. One minute they are sleeping with each other and the next professing their love.


2. The Ending
For some reason, the ending kinda disappointed me. Perhaps it was Frank's victory over General Nathan Parker or maybe the way Jean-Loup gave in so easliy.

3. Frank
So very cliche. He manages to not only solve the case but to chase away General Parker. He is always winning which is absolutely not believable.

4. Nicolas's death
So sad. He was one of my favorite characters.

If you can read through pages of gore then I definately recommend this book to evryone!