Kill Switch

Bound in the publisher's original paper covered boards.

A promising forensic psychiatrist with a prestigious fellowship for work with violent mental patients and an NYPD detective, newly reinstated to duty after being suspected of murdering his wife, team up to catch a serial killer. Both have deeply hidden secrets that may limit their effectiveness. Dr. Claire Waters still feels guilty about the kidnapping of her best friend by a murderous abuser many years earlier, and Detective Nick Lawler has retinitis pigmentosa, an incurable disease that leads to blindness. When Claire suspects that her patient, Todd Quimby, is killing young women after his release from Rikers Island, she goes to police and takes an active role in the case that Nick leads. He in turn helps her reach closure on the case that has haunted her since childhood. Nagging loose ends remain, leading to deadly risk for the protagonists and a suspenseful (if a bit contrived) conclusion. Still, characters and dialogue ring true in this promising debut by the former executive producers of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. --Michele Leber