Looking Glass by Andrew Mayne

 

First Line: Tiko kicked the deflated soccer ball down the alley, laughing as MauMau, the tan puppy with the chewed-up ear, chased it into the puddle, his too-big paws splattering mud and droplets everywhere.

 

After using revolutionary scientific methods to catch one of the most prolific serial killers in history, Professor Theo Cray has found himself cut off from university research. He's trying to rebuild his life, but when the desperate father of a missing child comes to him for help, Cray finds himself drawn into another unsolved case.

 

The only clues he has to go on are children's drawings and an inner-city urban legend about someone called the Toy Man. To unravel this mystery, Cray is going to have to set aside his scientific preconceptions and learn to embrace a world where dreams and nightmares carry just as much weight as reality. 

 

~

 

When I read the first book in this series, The Naturalist, I felt as though I'd hit the jackpot with the main character, Dr. Theo Cray. This feeling continued in Looking Glass. In my review of the first book, I said: "Cray is a wimp. He's a nerd. He has trouble relating to people because his head is so thoroughly buried in science and he spends so much time alone on field trips." In this second book, Cray isn't such a wimp anymore. His experiences have changed him, and he's learned how to protect himself better and how to minimize the risks he takes. What hasn't changed is how much I love watching how this character's mind works and how he tracks things down and puts them together. He sees patterns that no one else can, and that's highly important in his search for the Toy Man and the missing children. Cray may say that he can't read his own moral compass, but he definitely has one. When he sees something wrong-- especially something that others are knowingly turning a blind eye to-- he will not quit until the bad guys are caught. No matter what it takes.

Shunned by fellow academics, Cray is looked upon as the Dark Knight in defense intelligence circles, and they're hoping that he'll develop programs they can use both in war and in law enforcement. He's doing his best to steer clear of the war part of the work, and he made me smile when he uses his clearance and some of the tricks he's learned in his new job to help him on his quest to find the missing children. 

Andrew Mayne certainly knows how to write a story and a main character that set fire to my imagination, and although I did find the serial killer in Looking Glass to be a bit over the top, both the killer and the events surrounding him aren't completely out of the realm of possibility. I've grabbed a copy of the next Theo Cray thriller, and I know that I'll enjoy reading it.

Looking Glass by Andrew Mayne

eISBN: 9781542047999

Thomas & Mercer © 2018

eBook, 317 pages

Thriller/Amateur Sleuth, #2 Dr. Theo Cray mystery

Rating: A-

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne

 

First Line: 1989. The woods were wrong.

Dr. Theo Cray is a computational scientist. He sees patterns in chaos. When mutilated bodies are found deep in the forests of Montana, local law enforcement chalk it up to a rogue grizzly bear. But Cray sees something they missed. 

Seeking the truth behind the death of one of his former students, Cray tries to guide the police in the right direction, but all he does is convince them that the killer is either a bear or Cray himself. Cray has to work fast before he's either thrown in prison or becomes a serial killer's next victim.

 

The voice of Dr. Theo Cray drew me right into The Naturalist. Cray is a wimp. He's a nerd. He has trouble relating to people because his head is so thoroughly buried in science and he spends so much time alone on field trips. Some readers' eyes may cross at all the talk of science, but I enjoyed 98% of Cray's shop talk. (Hmm... does that make me a wimpy science nerd who doesn't relate to people, too?) The science really got me into Cray's character, and it does add background to the story. The reason Cray decided to go out on a limb and hunt for his former student's killer is guilt, and that says something about his character, too. He's not all about science after all. He feels that, as a professor, he spent too much time doing things like showing and critiquing the film Avatar to get his students to like him and not enough time teaching them how to be safe on field trips in the wilderness. He's a smart guy whose heart is in the right place even though he's out of step with the rest of us. But-- as the characters in all good stories should-- Cray changes as his hunt for the killer progresses, especially when he walks into a certain diner for a meal. But I digress.

I did have a problem or two with The Naturalist, and it wasn't over the portrayal of law enforcement. When the police have a weird guy who keeps digging up bodies and telling them about what he's found, what else are they going to think? You got it: they're going to think he killed them all and wants his fifteen minutes of fame. No, the problems I had have to do with the serial killer himself and some of the action scenes at the end. I found both to be a bit over the top, although in the killer's case, I found his portrayal a bit unbelievable, not the facts behind his creation.

But for me, discovering the character of Dr. Theo Cray was like hitting the jackpot. I had to know how he was going to win the day, and I had to know what sort of shape he was going to be in once it was all over. Now I want to know what he does next. I'll be reading more.

The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne

eISBN: 9781477824245

Thomas & Mercer © 2017

eBook, 372 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #1 Dr. Theo Cray mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.