Plot or Premise

There’s a serial killer afoot in New York, striking down pedestrians on the street. Edward X. Delaney is asked to quietly hunt them down.

What I Liked

Once the main investigation gets going, it’s interesting to see Delaney not only figure out whodunnit but also HOW to figure out whodunnit. Much of the methodology is old hat to anyone watching police procedurals or FBI movies, but when Sanders was writing it, it was all relatively new to the police world. I love how Sanders has Delaney involve both beat cops and civilians, finding ways to motivate them to help, and giving them both tasks and purpose. The reader knows whodunnit from the beginning, of course, and you see both sides of the crime — the perpetrator and his messed-up reasonings, as well as Delaney’s methodical approach.

What I Didn’t Like

The book moves a bit slowly at the beginning, and is complicated by Delaney’s personal life (his wife is dying of cancer). I found some of the perpetrator’s life presented as a bit over-the-top, which was part of the zeitgeist at the time (i.e., every serial killer has to be odd, almost perverse, in other areas of their life), but was far more impactful when they were focused on the mundane elements of his life. I know some readers loved the backstabbing politics of the police force, but it adds little to the meat of the case.

The Bottom Line

Watch out for harmless-looking pedestrians in New York