Books & Literature

Book Review: Sacrifice, by Hanna Winter

In her first case, a criminal psychologist must track down a serial killer, unaware of the part she will play in his deadly mission.

The twists and turns of a finely crafted crime story keep you coming back for more. This novel by Hanna Winter is written in a style that has you feeling comfortable that you have read something like this before, but at the same time shocks you into wanting to see what is going to happen next. It has a multi-layered plot that crosses back on itself revealing details, of historical nature, for the characters and in doing so invites you into the complex mind of a serial killer and the fractured existence of a PTSD sufferer.

In her first case, criminal psychologist Lena Peters must track down a serial killer, unaware of the part she will play in his deadly mission. Beginning as the hunter, she soon becomes the hunted in an obsessive cat-and-mouse game.

I usually read a book cover to cover, this one however, gave me spaces to put it down and digest the intricacies that had been provided and invited me to come back to see what was coming next. Many crime scenes are explicitly portrayed in a most gruesome manner and in fine detail adding to the abject horror of the nature of this serial killer’s depraved killing spree.

The back cover clearly states, “The chilling first novel in the Lena Peters series from an exciting voice in Crime Fiction.” This sums up the capacity of the book to hook in readers, the skill of the author and also alludes to the final lines of the story which lead seductively into the next book. The cover artwork is simple and disturbing, not giving anything away and yet hinting at the intrigue to come.

A novel that should sit in the crime fiction collection on your bookshelf.

Reviewed by Leanne Caune

Rating out of 10:  8

Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Release Date:  January 2017
RRP: $29.99 paperback

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