P J Tracy - Want to Play

Quote from front of book by Harlan Coben.: "Outrageously suspenseful ...Thriller debut of the year" Hmmm. This was the crime debut for the mother and daughter writing team of PJ & Traci Lambrechtin 2003.
It starts in present day Wisconsin where the bodies of a married couple, known parishioners, are found in the church of 'Father Newberry'. They had been shot in the head and the murderer personalised it by carving a cross on their bodies. During the investigation the sheriff and deputy discover that this elderly couple had an arsenal of weapons and set booby traps at their home.
In Minneapolis a group of 5 misfits, known as Monkeewrench are putting the finishing touches to their new computer game. They have only ever designed & made games for educational purposes before but Grace came up with the idea of a 'serial killer' game, 20 murders with staged graphics and clues. A kind of beefed up 'Cleudo' with more gruesome scenarios. The game has been available to try on line with only the first 5 murders available.
Also in Minneapolis, the sheriff & his deputies are attending the murder scene of a jogger, lying next to the riverbank. He had been shot in the head. Within 24 hours another murder. A young girl in a graveyard, the body has been draped over the statue of an angel. When one of the Monkeewrench sees the picture on the news they recognise it from their new game. They contact the police. The Monkeewrench become suspects and one, Grace, a possible victim.
It would seem that the two sheriffs murders are connected as is the secretive past of the Monkeewrench.
It is a cat & mouse thriller. There is quite a bit of dialogue (some of it detracts and some of it humorous(Harlan Coben-esq) Quote: "Halloran was fully awake now. "What? What did you find Father?" "Oh, didn't I mention that? Well its a shell casing if I'm not mistaken and since its been years since we've had target practice in the church, I was thinking it might be related to the murders".
What also detracted for me were the amount of names being tossed around - I was on the verge of writing them down. The americanised humour/words/wisecracks were sometimes lost on me and it almost seemed more like a script for a film (I did imagine film stars playing the characters like Danny De Vito for one of the deputies). But at times it was engrossing and towards the end I had to keep with it to see who the murderer was!
As I was boarding the plane on our return from holiday I was clutching the book - the air hostess looked to see what I was reading and commented that she didn't like it as much as their others. On that basis I will give another one a go.