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I appreciated the author’s decision to add excerpts from the book centered solely on the psyche and motive of the killer. I feel like I got a sneak peek into the inner workings of a sociopath’s mind and got a chance to understand how serial killers work. What were your opinions on those excerpts throughout the novel?

I did appreciate how the author managed to create a killer that was so unsettling. He's unspeakably inhumane and that really adds to the horror of the moments where he seems so genuine. The only part I wished the author did not have to push so hard is blaming his hatred and murderous tendencies on his sexuality. The cast, on several occasions, are convinced he hated women because he's gay, and the big twist at the end (which is essentially told in the killer's diary) concerning detective Johnathan left me with an incredibly sour taste in my mouth.

At first, I was not so sure that he was the same person that Zia was seeing other than Bryce. When I got further into the book, I was genuinely shocked! What is even more shocking was that he seemed so normal and sweet to Zia and everyone else; there were no red flags indicating that he was a serial killer. But these excerpts painted a picture outside of the main storyline that helped readers understand just how evil he really was. They also helped explain why the book ended the way it did. Personally, I thought that it was clever and fit well with the book as a whole.

The human mind is a complicated thing. No one can comprehend what is going in another person's mind. We interact with a lot of people, many people get involved emotionally with strangers and got emotionally and physically hurt. The same happened with Zia. the person she was considering nice and sweet, was a murderer. The writer's excerpts from the book about the insight of the killer's psyche and motive were really helpful. These excerpts helps me to understand the killer's character.

I appreciated the authors thoughtfulness to add the excerpts. This helped me to really understand how deep the evil in his head was. I felt the sharp contrast between the evil him and the one with Zia.

I appreciate that the author added the excerpts. I was totally shocked at the end of the book. He seems so sweet and normal and doesn't seem like a killer at all. But what's happening inside the head is very scary and unsettling.

Getting the readers to glimpse at what's going on in the killer's mind and showing the contrast of him when being with Zia was a good choice, although not new. Overall, the book was just not my cup of tea.

6eyed wrote: ↑07 Aug 2021, 00:55 I did appreciate how the author managed to create a killer that was so unsettling. He's unspeakably inhumane and that really adds to the horror of the moments where he seems so genuine. The only part I wished the author did not have to push so hard is blaming his hatred and murderous tendencies on his sexuality. The cast, on several occasions, are convinced he hated women because he's gay, and the big twist at the end (which is essentially told in the killer's diary) concerning detective Johnathan left me with an incredibly sour taste in my mouth.

Indeed I agree that all the scenes with the killer were very unsettling. I also thought this perspective was chilling and intriguing at the same time. However, the part about his unrequited love with the detective might not be the only factor for his "master plan" to kill all the subhumans, or women. The masterplan seemed a bit crude to me, but the actual portray of his personality was quite authentic. The author also mentions that he was disappointed before (in the scene where he put the diamond ring out but doesn't bring himself to ask), and the reason he killed his wife. So I think there is some story there, even though, I think that these parts were not clearly resolved or explained, or I missed something, correct me if I am wrong.

I would say the author did a good job in creating a character to describe how a serial killer thinks and acts. Acting all cool and nice but his inner mind says the opposite. The excerpts in the book even made it easier to understand how a serial killer works and makes the book easy to understand.

It definitely added depth to the mindset and motive of the killings. I also believe that the author creates this outlet to have one simultaneously judge and compare their thoughts to that of the murderer.

I find it truly fascinating reading about the mindset of a killer. The excerpts added depth and intrigue in the whole novel. It was such a great twist.

I enjoyed the excepts, it shows how you never really know someone and what goes in their head. It also shows that people present different sides of themselves to different people and in different environments. I thought the excepts added a lot of intrigue and depth to the book in a clever and unsettling way.

Human mind is something too complex to be easily comprehensible. In most of the cases, we do get to see what such sociopaths are doing but not the thoughts behind the same. Just like you, I too appreciate that the author added excerpts that solely talked about the psyche and motives of the killer. Those excerpts were really insightful as far as understanding the workings of serial killers are concerned.

Those excerpts were very interesting (and terrifying). It makes me wonder how many people we interact with on a daily basis who have these thoughts. I've certainly met people who seem a bit "off" but none that would make me think they're capable of something so horrifying.

We interact with many strangers in our daily lives and some of these people are capable of murder. The terrifying bit is that we can't identify them based on the casual interactions we usually have. Though the excepts by the author are helpful, they can only point to what to look for. The real tragedy is that we don't usually go out looking for potential murderers everyday.