The Butcher's Theatre
An engrossing psychological crime thriller
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
Murder is never clear-cut...
From the New York Times No. 1 bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman, The Butcher's Theatre is a thriller filled with tension and terror. Perfect for fans of Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben.
'A psychopathological blockbuster' - Observer
In the '60s Jerusalem was dubbed 'The Butcher's Theatre'. Decades later and the City of Peace is about to regain that title. The corpse of a young Arab girl has been found - her body violated and then carved up with chilling precision. Sexual murders are virtually unheard of in Jerusalem and the killing throws an already unstable city into turmoil.
Chief Inspector Daniel Shalom Sharavi, himself a Yemenite Jew, takes charge of the case. But with political and religious tensions in the city muddying the murder trail, could he be about to lose the killer in the confusion?
What readers are saying about The Butcher's Theatre:
'Thoroughly absorbing'
'Just phenomenal'
'Awesome story which is gripping, pacy, a tad gory [and just a brilliant read'
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In his fourth mystery, Kellerman leaves Los Angeles and Alex Delaware, child-psychologist hero of When the Bough Breaks and Blood Test, for the richness of Jerusalem and the subtle complexities of Chief Inspector Daniel Sharavi. The latter is a Yemenite Jew, a quiet and intense war hero with a California-born wife and three young children. When the extensively mutilated body of a young Arab girl is found, Sharavi assembles a group of assistants whose varied ethnic origins represent the composition of the city and state. After a second Arab girl is similarly killed, the case is given political significance in the press, leading to an Arab-Jewish riot and more bloodshed. As the investigation intensifies, Kellerman intersperses chapters that reveal the development of the killer's psychopathology, but not his identity. A third murder focuses Sharavi's attention on Amelia Catherine, the city's U.N.-run hospital, where finally he and the killer meet in a prolonged and graphic fight to the death. Dense with the textures of life in modern-day Jerusalem, Kellerman's story is both police proceduralit is dogged investigation, international and high-tech, that puts the last pieces in placeand penetrating psychological suspense-thriller. Panoramic in geography, layered in history, the novel is powered by close attention to the interior lives and motivations of its major characters, one of whom, a psychologist, may well be the author in guest appearance. This is a major novel, Kellerman's most ambitious and strongest to date. 100,000 first printing; $150,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild and Mystery Guild selections; author tour.