Cut to the Bone
Shane Gericke
Reviewed by Diane Kasperski
Keep the lights on when you read Cut to the Bone because you will be
jumping at every creak of a board, bump on a window or footsteps that
come close.
There is a serial killer out there that seems to murder randomly with
no apparent pattern. Victims are spread across the country and the only
similarity is two burnt matches left at the scene. The deaths are
extremely cruel and ruthless. "The Executioner" as he calls himself has
an agenda only he knows and a deadline that he has to meet.
Detectives Emily Thompson and Marty Benedetti are assigned to a local
murder almost by default because they happened to be at the spa where
the grisly murder took place in broad daylight with witnesses.
Unfortunately no one really got a glimpse of what the murderer looked
like. There is no trace evidence, no DNA, nothing to help solve this
case only the matches.
At the time they are trying to solve this case, Governor Covington is
on a mission. He has gotten the death sentence reinstated in IL. The
newly built Justice Center is about to hold the first execution by
electrocution in 30 years. NOTHING is going to delay this event.
Covington is obsessed with seeing it carried out. He has his own agenda
and the world could explode but the man scheduled to be "fried" is
going to die on the scheduled date!
Events collide and make for a super charged ending that has some
surprises and a lot of action.
Shane Gericke has a superbly crafted thriller in Cut to the Bone. The
characters are all well rounded - strengths – weaknesses – flaws –
secrets and all. The story also touches on the pros and cons of the
death penalty. Benedetti is strongly against execution but for reasons
known only to him feels compelled to be there. Thompson is totally in
favor of the death penalty for murderers and for her own reasons wants
to be there. The two sides of the issue are intertwined in the story
but not overstated or dwelled upon. The love between Benedetti and
Thompson gives even more zest to the story. All-in-all a great thriller
and I look forward to reading more from Gericke.