All shall mourn by Ellie Marney

What a thrilling and frightening conclusion to None Shall Sleep  and Some shall break! All shall mourn sees Simon Gutmunsson living in Morocco with his twin sister Kristin. The FBI are desperate to find this cold manipulative serial killer and seek out Emma Lewis to use as bait to lure him back to the USA. Officials in the FBI are certain that they can outsmart Gutmunsson but he always is a step ahead of them. But Emma knows the mind of the serial killer and trusts her instincts about him. Meanwhile Travis Bell has been gradually recovering from the injuries sustained in the last investigation and knows that he cannot allow Emma to go along with the FBI plan without him. Together they face the danger that the insane Gutmunsson brings to the chase and make one final dangerous attempt at capturing him.

The reader gets to know more about Travis’ character and motivation as he lives quietly on his uncle's ranch and then takes up the challenge of bringing Gutmunsson to justice. He must decide whether the FBI is where his future lies or whether he wants a quieter life. Emma is gradually coming to terms with her horrific past experiences and is beginning to let down her emotional barriers and the pair’s relationship is a highlight of the book.

Ellie Marney certainly knows how to write a suspenseful and scary thriller. She grabs the reader’s attention with a taut plot that at times was so dark that I had to leave the story. However I was always very involved in finding out the fate of Emma and Travis and I kept returning to the book. The final outcome brought the series to a satisfying conclusion - then there was a mind-blowing last entry!

Older teen readers and adults who enjoy tales like The silence of the lambs and The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes will find this series riveting. However it is not for the faint-hearted.

Themes: Murderers, Serial killers, Criminal investigation.

Pat Pledger