On, Off: A Novel [Hardcover]

Colleen McCullough (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 23, 2006

Colleen McCullough, who crafts "fiction at its best" (Time), triumphs with a searing murder mystery packed with heartpounding twists inside the world of science.

All the victims were pretty girls.

When the remains of a young woman are found at a Connecticut neurological institute, Lieutenant Carmine Delmonico is called to investigate. It is only the first of a serial killer's grisly crimes, however, and Delmonico is plunged into his most perplexing and terrifying case.

All the victims looked alike.

A frightening pattern emerges as the violence escalates, and Delmonico senses the killer is among the institute's staff of scientists and doctors. Infiltrating their ranks, he gets closer to manager Desdemona Dupre, who can help him uncover the secrets, politics, and backstabbing ambitions harbored there.

All is not what it seems.

But this audacious killer's game has only just begun -- a game poised to unravel everything Delmonico believes, and pull the detective who's seen it all into a shocking face-off with a staggering revelation at its core.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Australian McCullough (The Thorn Birds) portrays one of the creepiest serial killers in recent fiction in this intelligent shocker set in 1965 at an Ivy League university called Chubb located in Holloman, Conn. After an animal lab technician finds a partial corpse in the Hughlings Jackson Center for Neurological Research (aka "Hug"), police lieutenant Carmine Delmonico discovers that this murder is only one of many—with more to come—committed by a meticulous serial rapist/killer who saves the heads of his victims. The monster leaves so few clues that Delmonico calls him "the Ghost" and the newspapers "the Connecticut Monster." Despite the lack of fancy forensic tools, the determined detective discovers that the Ghost may be connected to a 1930s cold case. Adding heat to the investigation is the African-American community's outrage at the killer's preference for young women of mixed racial origins and Delmonico's growing romantic attachment to an endangered Hug employee. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Here's something new from the author of The Thorn Birds and numerous high-concept historical fiction titles: a straight-up detective thriller. It's 1965, and a dismembered body is found in a storage refrigerator at a neurological research center in Connecticut. Lieutenant Carmine Delmonico soon realizes he has got something new on his hands: a psychopath who kills for sport. In modern terms, a serial killer. McCullough, who admits to being a longtime reader of crime novels, is clearly well versed in the traditions of the genre: the novel features a working-class detective in an unfamiliar environment (sort of like Columbo) and a large cast of potential suspects (think Agatha Christie). The characters are vividly drawn, and the story itself is quite intriguing. A demon for research, McCullough packs the novel with enough information about the operation of the research center that we almost feel like we could run one. There are flaws: the prose is a bit overwritten, with phrases so out of place that they pull the reader up short ("stygian coldness," for example, on the very first page). Also, the overabundance of exclamation marks is sure to grate on many readers. But, despite these stylistic shortcomings, the novel should prove entertaining enough both to McCullough's many fans and to thriller readers who have never met a serial killer they didn't want to read more about. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1ST edition (May 23, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743286421
• ISBN-13: 978-0743286428
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,374,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Colleen McCullough was born in Australia. A neuropathologist, she established the department of neurophysiology at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney before working as a researcher and teacher at Yale Medical School for ten years. Her writing career began with the publication of Tim, followed by The Thorn Birds, a record-breaking international bestseller. She lives on Norfolk Island in the South Pacific with her husband, Ric Robinson.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping and surprising with only a few loose ends..., June 29, 2006

By 

JET (Parker, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: On, Off: A Novel (Hardcover)

As a fan of McCullough's _Tim_ (one of my all-time favorite books), and also of _The Thorn Birds_ and _The Ladies of Missalonghi_, I was incredibly surprised to spot this book at the bookstore. That didn't stop me, of course, from buying it immediately.

Briefly, the book takes place in 1965 in Connecticut and follows a detective, Carmine, as he attempts to solve a "multiple murder" case that is closely tied to the heavily endowed neurological research center, the "Hug," in the earliest days of forensic science and criminal profiling. This is a difficult case with many details and characters, and the climax and resolution, along with a surprise twist, occur in the last few pages.

McCullough is expertly detailed and accurate (from what I could tell), from the intricacies of neurological research to the 1960s setting and chronology. She is an excellent writer, but I agree with another review that pointed out that the first part of the book was overwritten - I was surprised to find quite so many details about a woman's outfit coming from a male detective, even if it was explained by one sentence, that a detective had to be observant of everything. Also, in the beginning, some descriptions are overdone. McCullough does fall into stride, however, and the writing isn't an issue within a few chapters.

Like other reviewers, I found this book to be impossible to put down - I read it in a little more than a day, even with working full-time. The story never stumbles or bores, and the characters, even though there are a lot of them, are easy to know and keep track of.

My biggest criticism of the book is the same as that of other reviewers, that there are a few red herrings and details that are not explained or tied up by the end of the story. Although I understood the overall outcome and general motive by the end of the book, I was left with many unanswered questions, such as the Hug's specific involvement and why the crimes were committed in the exact way that they were.

Other than the niggling of those questions, I really enjoyed the thrill of this book, and am wondering if there will be a sequel.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting change of genre for Ms McCullough, May 14, 2006

By 

Lesley West (St James, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On, Off: A Novel (Hardcover)

Before Collen McCullough became Australia's most famous novellist, she was a neuroscientist who worked in many areas, including teaching at Yale before the release of her first novel "Tim" (which is just beautiful). From there she went on to many great books, and this her latest, is quite a departure from the norm. It concerns a serial killer in the 1960s who leads the local police a merry chase, leaving apparently no clues, and yet who appears to be associated with a neurological research centre named colloquially "the Hug". It is this latter connection that gives Ms McCullough the opportunity to revisit her past.

It is an easy read, and the characters are all well defined and quite interesting in themselves. However, there is a little something missing which is hard to define. For one thing, apart from a small twist which I must confess that I didn't see coming, I had figured out "who done it" about half way through, which can be frustrating as you are then waiting for the police to come to the same conclusions as you. And there are some small red herrings that are never quite resolved to my satisfaction, and an odd sub-plot relating to African Amercian rights which is a little distracting and strangely unsatisfying. But again, readers of murder mystery do like to try and figure out who the killer is - its just that I am rarely succesful in this area - usually figuring it out as the police do.

All in all it is an interesting read, but if you want something truly wonderful by Ms McCullough, go for her first and best "Tim" - you won't regret it.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars extremely well written, but lost momentum, June 7, 2007

By 

PJ (Central PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On, Off: A Novel (Hardcover)

As I was reading this book I was planning to rate it with 5 stars, describe it as one of the best ever, and check the library for her other books. Her writing talent is marvelous - there were many sentences and short passages that I re-read just to savor the language. McCullough's serial killer suspects, primarily the scientists and other staff at a research facility, all have their little secrets, hideaways, peculiarities, history, making this a book with quite a few "bad guy" possibilities. The problem for me came around the last 1/3 of the book. The killer(s) changed methods, which was never explained by McCullough. S/he/they started leaving the corpses around other suspects' property, which she never developed. The police zeroed in on the probable killer(s) too soon to maintain the suspense. The cover blurb, promised a "terrifying and unexpected twist" on the last page; the twist was neither terrifying nor particularly unexpected. However, I must admit given the knowledge that there would be a final twist I spent much of the book trying to predict it and came up with quite a few possibilities.

Nonetheless, this is a beautifully written book, and I look forward to more McCullough mysteries.