Forgive Me, Alex

November 21, 2014

Edge-of-the-seat thriller

Forgive Me, Alex by Lane Diamond is a psychological thriller about a serial killer and the man whose mission in life is to track him down.

Forgive Me, Alex is the story of two men, Tony Hooper and Mitchel Norton. Tony is a tormented young man. He killed his first man when he was 15 – the drunk driver who killed his mother in a collision. The death of his mother caused his father to withdraw from human contact, leaving Tony to take care of his younger brother, Alex. Tony’s path crosses with Mitchel when the latter becomes obsessed with Tony’s girlfriend, Diana. Mitchel, however, is not your normal stalker or star-crossed swain – he hears voices from the Angel of Death, compelling him to commit gruesome murders and mutilations.

When Mitchel kidnaps Diana and kills Alex, Tony seeks revenge. His better nature prevails, however, and instead of killing Mitchel, he captures him and turns him over to the police. Deemed insane, Mitchel is committed to a mental institution.

Seventeen years later, when the system considers him cured, Mitchel is released, and the mutilation/murder starts again. Now, though, things are different. Tony, wracked with guilt at letting Mitchel live, has become a vigilante; going after serial killers who have escaped justice. In his quest, he’s met and developed a romantic relationship with FBI agent Linda Monroe. Now, he’s determined to see that Mitchel doesn’t escape justice a second time.

Told primarily in the first person, beginning with Tony, but switching to Mitchel’s point view every few chapters, Forgive Me, Alexis an edge-of-the-seat thriller that aficionados of the psychological thriller genre will enjoy. The author does a good job of slowly building the two principal characters, showing how each is a product of his past. A few of the chapters threw me off – in particular one chapter from the point of view of Frank Willow, a supporting character, and some third person views that provided narrative description of events. It would have added to the suspense if these could have been told from one or both of the main characters’ viewpoints. Despite this, it’s still a well-told tale, with a double-twist at the end that I didn’t see coming.

A well-crafted first novel that shows Diamond’s potential to good advantage. I give it three stars and recommend it for Awesome Indies Approval.