Face Off by Brenda Novak is a novel that I picked up in the 3-for-£5 offer at The Works. I didn't actually realise that it is the third title in The Evelyn Talbot Chronicles as there is no mention of this on the front cover or even in the synopsis on the back of the book. It can be enjoyed perfectly well as a stand-alone novel, but there are lots of little references to things that happened before that suggest the whole series is well worth a read.
Evelyn Talbot is a psychiatrist from Boston, now working at Hanover House, a prison in Alaska where some of the scariest psychopathic serial killers are being studied to try to understand them. She lives with Amarok, the local cop, but is unsure whether or not she wants to spend her whole life in remote Alaska.
Over twenty years ago, she was the victim of her then-boyfriend, Jasper Moore, a psychopath who tortured her and slit her throat, leaving her for dead. He has since killed several of her friends, as well as his parents, and she is sure that one day, he will come back to finish off the job that he messed up.
When a young woman discovers a dead body in the wood shed of a hunting hut, she soon becomes Jasper's latest victim. Jasper, however, has a new name and, thanks to plastic surgery, a new face, so he can get right up close to Evelyn without raising any alarms.
It's a nerve-tingling read, watching Evelyn trying to get her life back on track, knowing that her nightmare is far from over. Jasper is a troubled but intelligent man, and it is spine-tingling to watch him getting close to Evelyn, without anyone suspecting his real identity. I did rather enjoy the final scenes in the epilogue, where Evelyn has got back the power and enjoys tormenting the man who tried to cause her so much pain and suffering.
I've just noticed that there is a new book in the series coming out this summer, in which Jasper remains behind bars but another psychopath sets his sights on Evelyn.
star rating : 4.5/5
RRP : £8.99
- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Headline Eternal (29 Nov. 2018)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1472241010
- ISBN-13: 978-1472241016
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