Book Review: The Keeper by Luke Delaney

Posted August 21, 2014 by Karen in Book Reviews / 0 Comments


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Title: The Keeper (Book #2 in the D.I. Sean Corrigan series)

Author: Luke Delaney

Genre: Crime/Thriller/Detective

Publish Date: July 29, 2014

Publisher: HarperCollins

Rating: 5 Out of 5 Stars

~ Synopsis ~

The second novel in the DI Sean Corrigan series – authentic and terrifying crime fiction with a psychological edge, by an ex-Met detective. Perfect for fans of Mark Billingham, Peter James and Stuart MacBride.

DI Sean Corrigan is different to most cops. He’s no psychic, but his own dark past has given him the ability to step into a crime scene and see it through the eyes of the offender. He understands what drives a person to commit murder, rape, arson – but sometimes his gift seems more like a burden.

When the brutally murdered body of a young woman is found in the woods, Corrigan and his team are on the case. But this is not the act of a one-time offender. They’re on the trail of someone who has been taking women from their homes and keeping them captive before disposing of their bodies.

This killer is looking for the perfect woman – and when he finds her, he’s going to keep her. Whether she likes it or not…

~ Robbie’s Review ~

Thomas Keller is a pathetic little man – abused and abandoned as a child. . .the subject of ridicule and humiliation at the hands of his co-workers as an adult, he searches desperately for the one person who has ever shown him kindness. In The Keeper, author Luke Delaney effectively takes his readers into the mind of a mad man and Thomas Keller is utterly and completely mad. . .a ticking time bomb primed to explode at any moment.  Keller’s ill-fated star is about to collide with that of DI Sean Corrigan, an unusual man who seems to have an almost supernatural ability to enter the mind of  the killer in the crimes he investigates.

“I have to be able to think like him if we’re going to find him quickly.  I . . .I know so much about him already, but there were too many gaps.  I needed to know why he’s really doing this.  Love? Hate? Anger? Power? Acceptance?”  ~ Sean

Sean is charged with finding a missing woman despite the fact that his usual field of expertise is murder investigation.  And the case suddenly turns into a murder investigation when a body is discovered, even though it’s not the missing woman.  The killer  seems to be taking and keeping the same woman again and again and, as if there isn’t enough pressure on Sean to solve the case , he must conduct his investigation under the most stressful of circumstances.  His sergeant, Sally Jones is recovering from a traumatic and mentally crippling injury which may have left her unfit for duty, his wife Kate is pressuring him to move to New Zealand to make a better life for his family and DI Corrigan is saddled with  a bête noir in the very attractive form of Anna Ravenni-Ceron, a criminal psychiatrist, whose help he neither wants nor needs.

This book is terrifyingly gripping.  I absolutely could not put it down!  It doesn’t just take us into the mind of the killer, but even more chilling….we are forced to enter the minds of the victims.  We sense their fear. . .

Louise remembered he had called her Sam too.  I’ve come to take you home, Sam.  Just like I promised I would.  She felt the sickness rising in her stomach, the foul, bitter bile pushing up through her throat and into her mouth.  They were replacements for someone else – replacements for whoever the hell Sam was.

their determination to survive…

“But if I’m going to die, if I’m never going to see my husband again, when the truth of what’s happened here comes out, I want him to know that I tried, I fought back, I wasn’t meekly slaughtered like some farmyard animal.  I want him to be proud of me.  I want him to know.” ~ Louise

and ultimately their hopeless acceptance of their fates.

Her pain and terror weren’t going to be over quickly, in a place she had no fear of.  No, he was going to take her away from here, to a place she could only imagine the horror of.  A place she might never leave, alive or dead.

I highly recommend The Keeper to readers who are hooked on psychological thrillers.  The book is well-written, the plot is complex and the characters exceptionally well-developed.  There are a lot of twists and turns along the road and an ending that is both satisfying and titillating.  Don’t turn off the lights. . .especially if your name is Sam! 😀

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book directly from the author.  I was not paid to read or review this book.  All opinions are my own, and I was never influenced by anything or anyone.

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~ Purchase Links ~

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~ About the Author ~

Luke Delaney joined the Metropolitan Police Service in the late 1980s, and his first posting was to an inner-city area of South East London notorious for high levels of crime and extreme violence. He later joined the Criminal Investigations Department, where he investigated murders ranging from those committed by fledgling serial killers to gangland assassinations.

Connect with the Author

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