Kill switch by Neal Baer & Jonathan Greene

Claire Waters is a forensic psychiatrist who has just started working in one of the most sought after fellowships under the brilliant Dr. Curtin.  If she can nail this fellowship and keep on track then she has a truly brilliant future ahead of her, the kind of career that most psychiatrists can only dream of.  Curtin is a tough task master, but he also knows how to bring out the best in people, and his programme involving prisoners from Rikers Island is incredibly successful.  Claire's first case doesn't seem to bad, a small time criminal heading for greater things, but then things take a dangerous turn when he begins a murdering spree on the outside - when he is on Claire's watch.

Dealing with the fallout brings Claire into the path of Detective Nick Lawley, a cop who was on the outside but has managed to claw his way back in with this one case.  As the murder spree develops, Claire and Nick discover that there is more to the story, and that their straight forward case may be anything but.  There is an added mystery running through the case, an added danger that could see them both dead and buried before the end of the case.  Underneath it all is the case that Claire has never forgotten, the case that saw her best friend kidnapped before her eyes - the best friend who was never found.  Claire is good at what she does, and part of the reason is that she knows what real lose feels like, a vulnerability that could put everything at risk if she can't control how she reacts to things that the case brings bubbling back to the surface.

This is an interesting read from two of the former Executive Producers from Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.  At first it seemed like it fit neatly into one kind of crime sub-genre, but then it takes a leap into another, before taking a final leap into yet another sub-genre (no spoilers here today).  Claire is an interesting character, although at times it does feel a little like this is a narrated script rather than a novel, it is just the way some things read, but it is not off putting.  The supporting cast is interesting and while they fade into the background sometimes, the other main character Nick is a strong character who holds his own in the story and has his own parallel story which adds to the general "good-ness" of the book. 

This may be the start of a new series, or it may be a standalone.  The ending of the novel finishes this story nicely, but there is room there to continue with this "world" and these people.

If you like this book then try:

• The devil's cure by Kenneth Oppel
• Catch me by Lisa Gardner
• Taken by Robert Crais
• The surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
• Heat wave by Richard Castle
• Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs

Reviewed by Brilla