A fairly "by the numbers" serial killer crime novel, the most inventive part being the main character is the survivor of an infamous killer, herself. It's a fairly short read, and remarkably without atmosphere in spite of the subject matter. It's not great, but it's also not bad, and it feels like this could've been one of the drafts for a more fully-realized novel.

Ellery and Reed are fairly fleshed out, but the killer and the motivations behind their actions are pretty thin. I suspected them pretty strongly early on, and even with the little misdirection sprinkled throughout, kept circling back to them as the prime suspect. There are quite a few stretches and plot holes that get glazed over, such as connections of the victims to the killer and how the killer could so easily do away with these individuals (this is actually a point Reed highlights, but in retrospect in feels like the author threw that in as misdirection instead of critically thinking about it). The killer is so underdeveloped that they seem to be an afterthought, and I got the impression the novel was built on the idea of "a serial killer surving cop tracking down a serial killer" instead of crafting a good story (this may be why there's little tension or atmosphere throughout the novel. The focus was always Ellery's experience versus what was actually transpiring)

The reader also has to suspend disbelief when the killer begins leaving tokens and neither Ellery nor Reed feel its necessary to divulge Ellery's connection to events. Ellery can be given a shaky pass due to her trauma, but Reed, a seasoned FBI agent who cracked the case of Ellery's abductor years before, would obviously know better. This pattern of questionable omission leads to an abduction Ellery and Reed actually predict! With local law enforcement finally believing her claims of a killer on the loose, why didn't Ellery or Reed feel it was necessary to divulge the connection theory they came upon? It was simply more convenient for them not to.