Face of Death [Import] [Paperback]

Cody Mcfadyen (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 370 pages
• Publisher: Hodder (2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340840102
• ISBN-13: 978-0340840108
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,113,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cody McFadyen lives in California. He is the author of The Darker Side, The Face of Death, and Shadow Man, which was an international bestseller.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeps getting better and scarier, June 3, 2007

By 

ellen "ellen in atlanta" (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Face of Death (Library Binding)

If you thought Cody Mcfayden was a fluke with a great first novel, you will be pleased to know the man can write like a seasoned veteran.
He continues with Smoky Barrett, the FBI agent who lived through a horror of her own, with a great deal of scarring - not only on her soul, but on her once gorgeous face. That hasn't stopped her from going after evil.
She is called to a gruesome murder scene - a teenage girl with a gun to her head is yelling she will only speak to Smoky Barrett. Smoky goes into the house and into the nightmare of Sarah. Sarah is a girl whose family was murdered when she was a child - she was spared by the murderer. He (the murderer) has an agenda for her...
Mcfadyen takes us on this murderer's journey - he's called The Stranger - and if you were expecting broad strokes of the action - forget it - the language and actions are so strong, you are squirming - almost needing a shower - but his words are powerful.
The same FBI agents and several other characters we came to care about are back in this book. And they do not fail us either.
The Face of Death is a masterful book. Reminded me of early Jeffrey Deaver - but what comes next from Mcfadyen will be a sight to behold.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE Best Serial Killer Thriller in Years!, September 3, 2007

By 

R. Jepson "Beccacat" (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Face of Death (Library Binding)

If you're tired of same old serial killer,psychological thriller stuff,read this,you won't be able to put it down. I agree the great reviews I've just read here,and even emailed the author,and,o boy o boy,more of the "Smoky" series are to come.Just loved these two books,now what do I read?? Whatever it is,it won't be as good.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Serial killing avenging angel, September 1, 2007

By 

Cory D. Slipman (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Face of Death (Library Binding)

Cody McFadyen once again using his lurid imagination conjures up another crime thriller overflowing with grotesque violence and tortuous psychological drama in his follow up to "Shadow Man". In "The Face of Death" FBI Special Agent Smoky Barrett, herself subjected to unspeakable duress after her rape and maiming and the murders of her husband and daughter, is called into this latest affair at the behest of the victim.

Barrett and her L.A. based Violent Crimes team respond to a horrific crime scene in the swanky Malibu suburbs. Sixteen year old Sarah Langstrom is found walking around outside bewildered in her blood soaked nightie with a gun pressed to her temple. After being talked down by a sympathetic Barrett, they enter the residence to find a charnel house splattered with blood and the dead bodies of Sarah's foster parents and her beheaded dog Buster. Sarah claims that this slaughter was choreographed by a shadowy stocking masked psycho called The Stranger.

Barrett and her crew with help from a diary that Sarah has kept learned that this wasn't the first time that people in Sarah's life had been slain. At 6 years old her biologic parents has also been murdered in shocking fashion, again apparently by The Stranger. This forced her into the dire world of foster homes and adoption. Sarah's life had been studded with incidents of violence against those that she held most dear.

Barrett was now the adoptive mother of Bonnie, a ten year old daughter of her best friend who had perished at the hands of the Shadow Man. Suffering incredible psychological scars Bonnie, who had come out of her shell in the six months since the murder, was unable to speak. Barrett naturally viewed the now life hardened Sarah as a similar innocent victim.

The FBI team gave the case top priority status and soon discovered that the ghastly treatment of Sarah by The Stranger was based in the past. Their dedoubled efforts strove to detect the identity of serial killing Stranger and stop the path of destruction he was creating.

While "The Face of Death" was without question a gripping page turning thriller, because it followed a similar storyline to "The Shadow Man" it lacked the impact of that novel. McFadyen is a talented writer but I didn't feel any maturation in his writing style in his second offering, just more of the same.