The discovery of psychiatrist Dr Stanley Kolberg's abused body, punctured and broken, on his office floor appears to signal a failure in mental therapy. As a specialist in anger management, this murder victim routinely treated sociopaths and psychotics. Did an angry patient kill him?
So begins Daniel Kalla's who-done-it thriller, Rage Therapy (2006, Forge Books, New York, 309 pages). Then the murder of another psychiatrist, Kolberg's partner, complicates matters for Dr Joel Ashman, the narrator, who helps the Seattle police to investigate despite a big personal stake. Ashman once worked with the dead men. Soon someone menaces him too.
Darkness breeding in human minds and the evil actions spawned by unsavory compulsions threaten to dominate. Sometimes this book isn't for the faint of heart.
“I glanced at the red streak that arched across the wall like the band of a rainbow. ‘A real pumper,’ Schiff exhaled. ‘Only one thing gives you a spurt like that. An arterial bleed. And a big one, to boot.’ He whistled appreciatively.”
The author, from Vancouver, is an emergency-room doctor with three other books to his credit: Pandemic, Resistance and Blood Lies. At times, his observances of human tragedies shine through. “We climbed out of the car and walked by a grubby bearded man who sat against the front of the hotel, teetering from side to side and threatening to collapse onto the empty wine bottle beside him.”
Always interesting, often exciting, Rage Therapy has serious “issues” too. For example, the illusion of realism slips when detectives Ethan Devonshire and Claire Shepherd remain content to consult with Ashman, despite his obvious intersection with sinister forces.
Surprising turns of the human mind lead to unexpected plot twists. Is it possible? Could Ashman be the culprit? This flawed protagonist shows serious mental scars, some left by the tragic death of an ex-patient. There's cause for suspicion.
Rage Therapy isn't the greatest murder mystery or medical thriller, but it's compelling. Enough chills travel along readers' backbones to justify watching for Kalla's name on other book spines.
Approval rating: 68 per cent.
For more information: www.tor-forge.com or www.danielkalla.com
(August 17, 2008)
ARCHIVES
|
