Once again, Smoky is assigned a high profile case with a sick serial killer. What sets this apart from other serial killer stories are the characters, the depth of the plot and the ending.

I love these books. They are all brilliant. Now I just need to track down number 4!!

This is the fourth book I've read in this series (read #4 first, then went from the beginning) and I've enjoyed them all. They've got some great characters - all "different" to the norm, all with new things to discover as the series moves along. The crimes are suitably awful - criminals that toy with the cops, and that think up some bizarre themes and ways of murder.

I have one complaint - there was too much explanation about characters and previous events. These could have been inserted more subtly.

Terrific thriller. Not for the faint at heart. This is a thriller/murder/mystery book. I could not put it down! I cannot wait to read more of his books!

I really enjoyed the first two books by this author. Though I gave this book 2 stars, it's probably closer to a 2.5. But since I can't give that I had to err on the lower side of the scale. While I had issues with the first book, I still felt a level of connection with the characters. The second book I really enjoyed the character development of the victim's story. I just didn't have those feelings for this one and it made the book fall flat for me. I'm hoping that the fourth one gets back to the place the second one was.

Great read! Can't wait to read another from Cody McFadyen.

Uh, oh. Possible series fatigue.

I have to admit that I wasn't as impressed with this book in the series as I was with the first two books.

The story about 'The Preacher' was somehow not as interesting as about 'The Shadow Man' or 'The Stranger'. I mean, I liked the premise of sin and revelation and how each of the murdered victim that was focused on had its own story part. But that was about it. There was too much religion, too much embellishment and focus on the Catholic church and I just wasn't a fan of it.

I also found the characters' backstories to be too shallow this time. There could have been much more depth to it, but it all seemed too distant, to unimportant in relevance to the big case and I was a bit sad about that as I wanted to know more about Smoky's relationship with Tommy, Bonnie, Elaina and her work-family.

Overall the story was fast-paced, just as the previous Smoky Barrett books, and interesting enough to keep on reading, although I didn't think it was as good as the previous ones.