Reviewed by Vered Ehsani for Readers' Favorite.

I don’t normally give 5 stars. When I do, it’s because the book blew me away. Such a book has great, fully fleshed out characters that become as real as my next door neighbor; it keeps me hooked with an intriguing plot that flows along without a hitch and finishes with a satisfying, and preferably unpredictable, outcome. Well, hats off to Adam Pepper and his deeply flawed, but likeable private investigator, Hank Mondale.

I’m not big into detective stories, but I was still captivated (and occasionally irritated) by Hank Mondale, who manages to stay in an almost permanent state of financial desperation through his drinking and excessive gambling. He’s about to be thrown out on the street by his landlord, and his gambling debts are getting him into trouble with the wrong people. And then, a dream job lands in his lap. Real estate mogul, Thomas Blake, hires him to solve an unlikely mystery: a monster is trying to kill his daughter.

Up to this point, I was thinking, “This is a solid 4 star.” And then the straight-forward mystery makes a sharp turn and a dramatic plunge into a whole other realm of intensity and surprise. The perspective shifts flawlessly, and we see the story from an entirely different point of view, one that is dangerously mesmerizing. I can’t say more without giving away a whole lot, but I do highly recommend this to anyone who likes a good thriller mystery with a bit of the paranormal thrown in.