"Intriguing serial killer triller"

Alcoholic Susan Pulaski loses her job as a police psychologist for the Las Vegas Police Department because she rarely stays sober. However, she has no time to drown her latest sorrow with more drink because her former boss LVPD Chief O'Bannon, who fired her, needs her skills as a profiler to stop a clever serial killer who murders young girls and leaves behind a cryptic note.

Susan asks her ex-boss' twenty-something son Darby, an idiot savant whose expertise happens to be encrypted messages to break the code. They soon find an Edgar Allen Poe cryptic, but have no idea what that means in the deadly modern context. Unbeknownst to Susan she plays a beleaguered heroine in a Poe work as the killer has a role for her that will end in her death if he directs the show.

Though exciting, DARK EYE seems to come out of the ingenious insane and inane serial killer 101 mould where a brilliant murderer leaves clues to play cat and mouse with the cops (the Son of Sam syndrome in literature). Still Susan is a delightful protagonist struggling with an alcohol dependency; Darby is perhaps the most interesting character though why didn't pop turn to him to solve the puzzle? Though fans of serial killer police chess matches will enjoy the action-packed and exhilarating tale due to its cat and mouse demeanor, William Bernhardt readers will mostly sing Ben.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted January 1, 2005

Summary

Bestselling author William Bernhardt returns with DARK EYE, his first stand-alone suspense novel in three years. Known for his mastery of psychological suspense, Bernhardt introduces us to a brand new protagonist, Susan Pulaski - a tormented Las Vegas cop on the hunt for a serial killer who finds devine inspiration in the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

Susan Pulaski is the prefect fit for her city and her job, unraveling the minds of deviant personalities. But when a serial killer begins decorating Sin City with horribly disfigured bodies of once beautiful young women, Pulaski's own demons go on a binge. After a violent incident earns her a pink slip from the LVPD and a trip to detox, she finds herself out of the hunt altogether.

Desperate to regain her job, her reputation, and custody of the neice she's been caring for on her own, Pulaski finds help from an unsuspected source: Darcy O'Bannon, the police chief's twenty-five-year-old autistic son. Darcy's relationship with the world around him is so unusual that it forces Pulaski to view the crimes from a bizarre - but ultimately insightful - perspective.

But even with the assistance of Darcy's astonishing skills, Pulaski is in even more danger than she knows. For the man she seeks is watching her, seduced by her frailties and strengths, her beauty and her boldness. To complete his masterwork of horror, he needs her.

DARK EYE is an unparalled literary Las Vegas thrill ride that will leave readers breathless until the final, stunning page.