JanB's Reviews > The Nothing Man

Eve, the sole survivor of her family’s murder by a serial killer when she was a young child, has written a true crime book, The Nothing Man, with the intent to catch the killer. Jim, the murderer, now living a quiet life and working as a security guard, reads the book and becomes increasingly infuriated and intent on finishing the job he should have finished 20 years ago.

The chapters from the perspective of Jim alternates with chapters from the book. I don’t always enjoy a book within a book but in this case it worked brilliantly. Reading Jim’s thoughts and responses as he read the book was nothing short of terrifying. I applaud the author for writing a book where the killer is known from the start but the tension and suspense is maintained.

So why only three stars? As I read I kept thinking I knew Jim. Why? Because he was exactly like the GSK (Golden State Killer). I made a checklist as I read and came up with at least 20 similarities that range from his escalating crimes, to the manner in which he executed the crimes, to his job. The GSK is so unique and unusual that the similarities could not possibly be coincidental.

To be fair, the author references in the afterward that she came up for the idea of this book after reading Michelle McNamara’s book, I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer. I think it was more than an "idea" since Jim was nearly indistinguishable from him. I would have liked to have seen more originality. It's a page-turner and very readable but I also found the ending a let-down.

I liked the author's writing style and would definitely read more by her. Perhaps if you have not read Michelle McNamara's book and you know nothing about GSK, you'd appreciate the story more than I did. Just go in knowing Jim is a clone of the GSK.

* I received a digital copy of the book via Edelweiss. All opinions are my own.