William Oliver Layton-Fawkes (“Wolf,” for short) is a hard-charging, dogged police detective who is passionate about his work. So passionate, in fact, that his last big case, involving the so-called Cremation Killer, left him mentally exhausted, and under the care of the resident psychiatrists of St. Ann’s Hospital. He’s just returned to duty after four years when a scarecrow composed of the body parts of six different victims and positioned with an arm pointing towards the window of Wolf’s apartment is discovered. In addition to this inventive display, the killer has also released a list of another six potential victims, including Wolf, to the media. Wolf thus finds himself in a life-or-death race against time, challenged by the urgent need to identify the half dozen victims while trying to protect the next six.

For a first-time author, Cole writes with surprising assurance and verve, delivering a vital, gripping narrative which should satisfy most thriller aficionados. Extremely dark at times, the story also has its lighter moments, usually in depicting the relationships between the main characters, and in dissecting office politics. Overall, an outstanding, very readable debut, one which manages to hit all the right grace notes, even while delivering savage jolts to your nervous system.