Schizoid

Schizoid is an exciting look into the slightly creepy world of investigative writer Kenneth Sorin. Sorin is twenty-eight years old and finds himself in the middle of what seems to be real and what really isn’t. His uncle Ash works for Chief Inspector Frank and is first on the scene in a string of murders in which the killer leaves an emerald in place of one of the victim’s eyes. All of the victims are young ladies who go to the same university, although they all have different majors, and it is unclear if they know one another. Trying to find the identity of this serial killer of university women is not as easy as it sounds. There are several suspects, including a clothing store owner and a rather odd psychologist who, coincidentally, treats the clothing store owner’s wife in his practice. After reading Johan Fundin’s book em>Disorder, I was ready for pretty much anything sick and twisted. I was pleasantly surprised that Fundin kept the grossness to a minimum in this book, the chocolates in the panties were rather odd and what psychologist Leighton Fenwick does with them is not explained, perhaps thankfully. As I experienced with his last book, Fundin does an extraordinary job with description and detail in Schizoid. Descriptions such as “hair yellow-blonde like ripe wheat” and “wrapping papers glittered like veils of stars” evokes images that are easy to implant in the memory.

Kenneth has several interesting dreams. In one instance, a teacher from back in grade school asks Kenneth and his classmates what they want to be when they grow up. The teacher then berates each child and even has a crab claw to strangle the children. She berates all but the love of Kenneth’s life, Alison. It is through these disturbing dreams that Kenneth blurs the line between fantasy, subconscious, and reality in order to help solve the case of the murdered girls and write his book about it.

Theories fly about what the pattern of the killer is. Methods from prime numbers to Egyptology to astrology combine to create one big theory that could hold the answer. Until that big theory is proven wrong. Then what?

This book is sure to keep you guessing and calculating right along with the characters in the book. From his new romance to his cat, who is named Linda, Kenneth Sorin is an odd fellow, but the reader is able to follow his thought process quite easily and it is wildly entertaining.