19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chilling "Psychopath", August 22, 2003
Serial killers are nothing new in mystery fiction. But Keith Ablow gives the title character of his novel a chilling spin, and lets the readers see through a window into the killer's twisted, fragmented mind. It's a freaky rollercoaster ride, and one that readers won't forget in a hurry.
The Highway Killer (also called Jonah) roams from one seemingly random town to another, choosing victims seemingly at random. He's attractive, intelligent, cultured, religious, a nurturing psychologist who travels from hospital to hospital -- and is overwhelmed by a dark urge to kill, to absorb the life of his victims into himself. There's no way to track him and no way to tell who he will attack next.
The FBI calls in Frank Clevenger, a famous forensic psychiatrist who is also trying to balance out his life with a troubled adopted son, who has been expelled for dealing drugs at his school. But he becomes enmeshed in the investigation, and soon a newspaper starts publishing front-page letters from the Highway Killer to Frank. He must use his own past, the letters, and the victims to delve into the Highway Killer's mind -- and what is driving him to murder.
They say you should write what you know, and Keith Ablow is a prime example of this. Like Frank, he is a forensic psychiatrist, and so he's ideal to bring us the tormented Jonah, a serial killer who is both good and evil, and who is so conflicted that he's blotted out part of his past that holds the key to his psychosis.
Most mystery novels can't balance out the personal and the professional -- or, better yet, tie them together. Ablow does both. Frank's personal life is tied in to why Jonah wants him to help. The writing is taut, but the best parts are when he gets inside the characters' heads, giving us a vivid picture of what they think and why.
Frank is an excellent protagonist; he's almost as psychologically complex as the Highway Killer. One outstanding scene is when Frank reveals the similarities between his adopted son Billy's abusive childhood and his own youth. It's a wonderful scene, and shows Ablow's tight focus on how people's minds work. Jonah is a crazy quilt of good and bad, and probably the best fictional "psychopath" I've ever read about. And Billy, who is struggling with his own past abuse, helps give a human edge to the aspects of Frank that are necessary to the plot.
"Psychopath" is the sort of book that can scare you stiff -- the only demons and monsters it has are the kind that really exist inside the human mind. Tightly-written, intriguing, and it'll keep you riveted up to the end.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing sensitivity, October 31, 2004
Keith Ablow is a surprise in my life. I was unfamiliar with this author, and I thought I would not like his writing--after all, the subject matter is not certainly appealing at all. However, I found myself highly impressed with his writing. The sensitivity to his mentally ill character is amazing. I found myself truly understanding the motive, the emotion and the obsession of this villain. I also found myself admiring the detective and his love for his son--both so flawed yet so skillfully handled. I went on to read Murder Suicide by Mr. Ablow. It too continues this fine series. I recommend if you have not read this author to definitely put him on your list. He is amazing in his ability to carry you along through his characters lives and make you feel their pain, their obsessions and their capacity for love.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating and exciting medical thriller, July 3, 2003
He travels the highways of America killing when the compulsion becomes unbearable but he always gets his victims to trust him and talk to him so he can get inside their defenses before he delivers the fatal blow. He is known as the Highway Killer and the FBI credit him with at least fourteen known homicides even though he believes he killed sevnteen people, men and women, young and old with no discernible pattern.
The FBI is getting desperate so they call in forensic psychiatrist Frank Clevenger as consultant. This resonates with the Highway Killer and he engages Clevenger in a dialog played out in the New York Times for the world to see. It is an interesting but potentially deadly cat and mouse game these two individuals play because they were both victims of parental abuse as children and they are both practicing psychiatrists.
Keith Ablow does the impossible by making the audience feel genuine sympathy for a serial killer tormented by his demons and his inability to stop from killing even though he knows it is wrong. As a doctor he has saved the lives of many children in crises but he can not heal himself. PSYCHOPATH is a fascinating and exciting medical thriller about a tormented person who wears the mask of sanity on the outside, but inside is a tortured soul who wants to be stopped.
Harriet Klausner
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