"Exciting thriller"

John Snow was a genius who made millions from his inventions but the money came at a price. Every time he was near a breakthrough, he suffered a severe grand mal epileptic seizure. Unable to live with the affliction anymore, he decided to have cutting edge brain surgery that could cause blindness or leave him unable to remember any of the people closest to him. An hour before he was due for surgery someone killed him in the alley near the hospital.

Forensic psychiatrist Frank Clevenger is asked by Detective Mike Coady of the Boston police department to determine whether John committed suicide or was murdered, as the autopsy results were inconclusive. By accepting the case, Frank has to look at all the people who were closest to the man, his wife, business partner, children and mistress to see who had a motive. He discovers they all did.

Keith Ablow is one of the best thriller writers on the market today. His protagonist, a psychologically flawed person, overcomes the abuse he suffered from his sadistic father to help people and to make sure the killers are caught so they won't hurt anyone ever again. There is a lot of action scenes in MURDER SUICIDE but the best parts of this exciting thriller is watching the hero put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted June 13, 2004

Summary

The only forensic psychiatrist writing suspense, Keith Ablow is being hailed as the heir to Thomas Harris. Keith Ablow's novels delve deep into that dark and deadly place that Ablow, one of the nation's leading forensic psychiatrists, knows best: the psyche of a killer. Ablow has explored the catacombs of the criminal mind to find out what makes them tick, and he brings that expertise to his new novel, a chilling and emotionally compelling story of the lengths to which one man will go to leave his own life behind. In Murder Suicide, Ablow and his alter-ego, Dr. Frank Clevenger, return to take on a murder case like no other. John Snow is a brilliant inventor who has made millions from his genius in aeronautics. He has everything a man could desire: wealth, family, even a beautiful mistress. But he also has a brain disease, a rare form of epilepsy, that threatens his most valuable possession -- his mind. Only one doctor may be able to cure it surgically, but at a terrible cost, one that Snow reveals to no one: Snow will have no memory whatsoever of his past - of its emotional entanglements or its secrets. He will be abandoning everyone he has ever known. But the night before he is scheduled to undergo the operation, he is found near the Massachusetts General Hospital, dead of a gunshot wound. Did he commit suicide, as the police suspect - or was he murdered? Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Frank Clevenger delves into Snow's complex past and tortured relationships to unlock the identity of Snow's killer: Was it the wife who can never forgive what he's done to their child and their marriage, the son who loathes him, the beautiful mistress who loves him so deeply but can never have him, or the business partner intent on taking control of his inventions? Only Frank Clevenger can unlock the door to Snow's startling past. And only Keith Ablow can take readers even further into the mind of a killer.