The Nothing Man

This book was gripping from beginning until end. The way that Catherine Ryan Howard incorporated a fictional victim’s own account via her written memoir of the crimes that The Nothing Man perpetrated was incredibly genius and creative. As always, Catherine included a surprising twist at the end that hit The Nothing Man close to home. I have always been intrigued by true crime, and this book fed my obsession.

3.5/5 stars

It was poetic really. He was about to walk up to the woman who'd made it her mission to find him and failed at it. Instead, he was coming to her.

When Eve Black was twelve years old a serial killer murdered her whole family leaving her as the only survivor. Now as an adult she has written a book to generate publicity about the case and hopefully solve her family's murder. The book becomes a huge hit and winds up everywhere, including the hands of the man who committed the crimes and he's not happy with it.

This book had a great premise but what made it stand out is that the everything is told from the killer's point of view as he reads the book that was written about him. We get both the book itself and his reactions to it, plus his inner thoughts and interactions with the rest of the world. The book within a book was fine, but not nearly as interesting though I understand that it wasn't the main focus. It definitely kept me reading.

I will say that I knew exactly how this book was going to end. This isn't a bad thing at all but it felt a bit easy to me, maybe I've been reading too many thrillers. I also would have liked to get to know Eve a bit more, I didn't feel a super strong connection to her. This still was a very solid, not generic book.

Wow. Great from beginning to end.

It makes me happy when I come across a unique psychological thriller!!