The Architect [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Keith Albox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2006

An extraordinarily talented architect whose clients are America's wealthiest families . . . A sociopath whose search for perfection leaves a trail of murders he considers works of art . . . A story of obsession that opens doors to secret corridors of power - and into the private quarters of the White House itself. Passion, political intrigue, and psychopathic acts combine into the perfect storm in this journey into the mind of a masterful serial killer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The strong fifth entry in Ablow's well-received series about FBI forensic psychologist Frank Clevenger (after 2003's Psychopath) features an impressive and sharply detailed heavy, architect West Crosse, who's hailed as a genius for his design skills. But underneath Crosse's art lies a dark soul, a man who wants to engineer human beings to match his perfect buildings at any cost. When a link surfaces among several bodies, each dissected with a brilliant surgeon's skills, Clevenger gets on the case. Crosse, who gave himself a jagged facial scar at age 20 to deliberately spoil his perfect beauty, is now 38. He shocks prospective clients with his opinions ("This is Walter Gropius's house.... It has nothing to do with you," he tells a magnate who proudly inhabits a home designed by the legendary German) and seems not to care if he gets any more work. As for Clevenger, he of course has some personal problems of his own. But Ablow manages to keep them from taking over the story and—miracle of miracles—focuses on the serial killer, that too often poorly drawn staple of so many psychological thrillers, who emerges as a fresh and fully realized creation.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The Frank Clevenger mysteries keep getting better. Clevenger, a forensic psychiatrist working for the FBI, has always been one of the genre's more interesting protagonists--deeper and darker than psychiatrist/psychologist heroes such as Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware or James Patterson's Alex Cross. And the stories, which pit Clevenger against villains who are at least as clever as he is, have always been tightly written and multilayered. It's actually the villains themselves who are spicing up the series. Take this one, for example: West Crosse, a top-line architect whose need for artistic perfection extends to his hobby--murder. As the Clevenger series has progressed, the villains have evolved from bad guys to elaborately constructed, deeply compelling, almost hypnotically evil (but never cartoony) people. Ablow has yet to reach the summit of his powers, but he's getting closer. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 447 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (January 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786282436
• ISBN-13: 978-0786282432
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,261,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Clevenger Thriller, May 13, 2007

By 

Jennifer Wardrip (Bloomington, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Architect: A Novel (Hardcover)

Ablow's Frank Clevenger series began with an appearance by this forensic psychologist back in 1998 in Denial. In every subsequent book, we get a great thriller story interspersed with Clevenger's own personal trials, and THE ARCHITECT is no different.

The main storyline of this book, that of an architect who believes he's doing God's work by reshaping the lives of the people he builds houses for, is definitely overshadowed by the story of Clevenger himself. His own battle with alcoholism (reminiscent of that of Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder), his on-again-off-again very realistic relationship with his FBI girlfriend, and the tightrope he walks with his adopted son, Billy, take front row.

Although the bad guy in this book keeps the story fresh and the plot intense, to me it was the underlying story of Clevenger and his life that held my real interest. I was left at the last page not with the feeling of "good, the bad guy is dead," but that of "what's going to happen to Billy?"

I guess you could say I'm hooked.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars strong psychological thriller, July 5, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Architect: A Novel (Hardcover)

He is one of the most brilliant architects the world has ever known, a virtuoso who believes that he knows what would suit the client more than the client does. He is not listed in any phone book and most people have never heard of him. He was a member of the secret society known as the Order of Skull and Bones and gets his referrals from them through word of mouth. His talent is such that he was picked to design a new museum in the White House because the president was also a member of the secret society and trusts him implicitly.

However, this fine architect, believing he has God's blessing, is also a cold blooded murderer who kills a person from his client's family when the victim makes the lives of their relatives miserable. Forensic psychiatrist Frank Clevenger is called in to profile this serial killer. Frank also tries to help his troubled son Billy who looks like he is going to be serving time as he battles his drinking and drug problem.

West Crosse is one of the most sinister villains since Hannibal Lechter. What makes him so frightening is he believes he has a calling to kill those who destroy the perfection of a family and is rational enough to know that if he kills his last victim, he will die almost immediately. Frank is also at his best with his own demons and second guessing himself so he comes across as the more realistic character, one that elicits sympathy from the reader. Keith Abbot has once again shown that he is the master of the psychological thriller.

Harriet Klausner

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars THIS STORY IS BUILT ON SHAKY GROUND, August 15, 2007

By 

Red Rock Bookworm (St. George Utah) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Architect: A Novel (Frank Clevenger) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is my first book by this author, Keith Ablow, and it will most likely be my last. His protagonist, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Frank Clevenger, is without doubt the most dysfunctional character in a tale teeming with dysfunctional characters. Clevenger's personal life is a train wreck and he is hard pressed to make it through a day without a few belts of booze. He is unable to make any meaningful contribution to the lives of those he purportedly cares about and any of the folks that he "loves" would be well advised to RUN as quickly as possible in the opposite direction.

As for Ablows' "Architect", he is a pale facsimile of a character created by Thomas Harris. Ablow's killer is a one dimensional psychopath who is not nearly as intriguing or terrifying as Harris's Hannibal Lector. The reader is never privy to the underlying reason for "The Architects" obsession with perfection or what drives him in his compulsive need to control every situation

ADVICE TO PROSPECTIVE READERS: The entire storyline is unrealistic. If, however, you are willing to suspend disbelief, are into buckets of blood and gore with a bit of political rhetoric thrown in for good measure, you might find this offering to your liking. On the other hand, if you demand a well constructed, suspenseful and psychologically engaging thriller ......move on my friend. This book is definitely not for you.