the basement – stephen leather

The Basement

I didn’t think I’d heard of Stephen Leather, but having a look over his apparently extensive collection of books, I have definitely read The Bombmaker and I have at least heard of Cold Kill, and perhaps a couple of others.  However, I got this one when it was free for Kindle (it is now the dizzyingly high price of 72p!)

To be honest, if I had paid, I would’ve felt robbed – and that was the main reason for me looking to see whether this was the first book that he had ever written, as that was what it felt like.

It was very, very short, and very easy to read, but that was mainly because it was totally without depth.

There is a serial killer in New York who is kidnapping, raping and then murdering women – the bodies are never found but videos of their ordeals have been sent to the police.

Another woman has been kidnapped and two detectives are hoping to find her before she falls to the same fate.  They happen to stumble across a rather odd screenplay writer who has written about a serial killer, whose profile fits that of the killer and who doesn’t seem the most helpful of citizens.  Is he the killer though?

It’s a very short story, and I didn’t guess the ending, which was good, but I didn’t particularly enjoy the journey.  The story felt slapped together, the characters two-dimensional and I really couldn’t give a stuff about the woman who was being held captive.

However, you get what you pay for, and 72p isn’t too bad for a couple of hours’ mild entertainment!

EDIT:  SPOILER ALERT *** SPOILER ALERT ***

I’ve noticed that I have had a few people come to this page as they are searching for an explanation of the ending of this book.  i am now going to explain it – so click away if you don’t want to know.

***HERE COMES THE SPOILER*** (HIGHLIGHT TO READ) ***

The female cop is the killer, and she was trying to pin it on the writer.  That is all.

Unless of course, I got it totally wrong – in which case, can someone let me know!  🙂