No, Peter James' new book is not his best creation ever. That's not to say I didn't enjoy reading it! But I cannot shake the feeling that he keeps on repeating himself. Or even other writers.

The main subject of this book is only too well known, even among Peter-James-Fans: a man stalking and / or controlling a woman, ultimately threatening her and aiming at her destruction. I was not totally convinced. My scepticism has nothing to do with suspense - James manages, as always, to invent some surprising twists, which kept me firmly glued to the pages.

But - how shall I describe it - it all sounded a little flat. Mainly from the language level. The passages written from the maniac's perspective (written, as always, in italics) sounded a little dull and uninspired. To constantly call the once-loved woman "bitch" and her family and parents "poisonous", and this dozens of times throughout the book, was tiring, quite frankly. There were other turns of phrase I found less than enjoyable.

And why did he become the way he was...? Well, the reason for this, I really have to say, has been heard a thousand times in thrillers and crime novels. Really! I would have thought Peter James to be less conventional. Abuse in childhood... yawn...!

Why do I give four stars, then? As I said, the plot was at least halfway satisfactory. But what really got to me was the part about inspector Roy Grace! An important riddle from his past, concerning his ex-wife Sandy, is finally solved. These were amongst the best passages in the book.

All in all, I would recommend the book only to hardcore fans of Peter James and his inspector Roy Grace. All others - well, you must decide for yourselves.