Book Review
Title: I, Kill
Author: Giorgio Faletti
Genre: Crime/Psychological/Thriller
Rating: *****
Review: This book was initially on my radar but the synopsis really caught my eye as I love anything about serial killers, the Hannibal Lecter series being one of my favourites so I decided to give I Kill a go. The opening of I Kill introduces us to Jean-Loup Verdier who is a DJ on Radio Monte Carlo and runs his own hit show called Voices. I wasn’t expecting the main character we are following to be a DJ so I am even more intrigued now, Jean-Loup is a mentor to Pierrot who has some mental issues but he is the most adorable character I’ve ever met and if anything happens to him I swear I will burn the book. Upon arriving at work one evening Jean-Loup receives a call on his show, the nameless caller tells Jean-Loup that soon he will be a wanted man and that Jean-Loup will be the bloodhound sniffing him out. The creepy man on the other end of the line tells Jean-Loup they are the same except at night when Jean-Loup sleeps he kills and the line goes dead. Jean-Loup decides to think nothing of the call and dismisses it as a prank but I have a feeling it’s going to come back and haunt him. We are introduced to Jochen Welder, a two time world champion in Formula 1 and his girlfriend, Arianna, a world chess champion and while their romance was interesting to read they are soon killed by a mysterious man and I suspect it is the same one who called the radio station as he laments there isn’t any music playing at the time of the murders. After the murders we are introduced to the two law enforcement officers that will be leading the case, the first is Frank Ottobre, an FBI special agent dealing with almost being killed a year ago and the death of his wife.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Frank is currently on leave and isn’t sure he wants to return to his job or life, he is very depressed but I have a feeling much like Clarice Starling he has something about it that makes him an asset to the FBI. The second is Nicolas Hulot is the lead investigator on the case and even he is appalled by the level of brutality inflicted upon the victims. The murderer seems to be collecting their faces but for what purpose isn’t yet known. When the press gets news of the murders Nicolas tries to convince Frank to help him but he refuses but this also draws in Jean-Loup from Radio monte Carlo to come forward with information that might be related to the murders. We learn that Frank’s wife committed suicide after he told her that he might want to return to work even after almost dying and he has been carrying that guilt around with him yet he knows Nicolas was right and joins the investigation. From the recording of the call to the radio station Frank is able to deduce that the killer was hinting at his victim with the music playing the background basically taunting the police and he knows that he will continue to kill until he is caught. Frank and Nicolas decide to use the radio station to see if the killer calls back since he seems to have built a twisted relationship with Jean-Loup and music seems to be the clue to who he is going to kill as we see with his next victim, Allen Yoshida. Yoshida finds sexual pleasure in the deaths and torture of other and as an extraordinarily rich man he pays people to kill and records the deaths for him so his death seems justified but I don’t know why the killer choose Jochen and Arianna as they seemed like good people. The manner of death is the same with the face removed although we don’t know why the killer does this yet and the pressure is piling on Nicolas and Frank to stop him since he won’t stop until he is caught.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, the death of Allen Yoshida has put a lot of pressure on Frank and Nicolas to solve the case before another murder occurs, however, the investigation takes a real strange turn. Upon reviewing the footage from Yoshida’s murder they get their first glimpse of the killer but this man is extremely intelligent and leaves them nothing, he even wear additional padding under his clothes so they can’t assume his build from the footage, all they have is his height which equals nothing in terms of an investigation this size. We jump to the killer’s perspective again and it seems like he takes the victim’s faces for the mummified corpse he has in his home which is obviously someone important to him. What is even stranger is this body talks to him and refers to him as Vibo and he refers to the body as Paso and he tells Paso he is collecting the faces for him. Frank also has some additional headaches to worry about as Arianna’s father, General Nathan Parker is trying to recruit Frank for his own vengeance mission and as he is a powerful man it is going to be a challenge for Frank to keep him from doing anything drastic and his lapdog, Captain Ryan Mosse is more than little unhinged. Frank also have to convince Jean-Loup to continue taking the phone calls as they are the only leads they have right now, in addition to this, Nicolas’ wife intrigues me as their son died years before but she lives in a delusion where her son and Frank’s wife are still alive leaving both Frank and Nicolas to grieve alone which I think is rather selfish. However, Frank has a bit of a brainwave and believes that there might be a clue, not matter how small, in the video tape and rushes back to review it. So far, the novel is very intriguing and has gripped me completely but it is rather strange in places especially where the killer is concerned.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Frank finds a clue in the video tapes in the form of a vinyl record left by the killer which no one noticed before. However, Nicolas is being put under a lot of pressure by his superiors but Frank wants to keep this clue on the downlow until they can confirm this is something important. We also get the killer’s point of view again and I can’t work out his relation to the body he talks to, he mentions them being together in childhood so that narrows it down to a friend, sibling or partner for me but the most interesting thing is that he is getting ready to hunt again but not before making his call to the radio station. Now, that Frank and Nicolas have caught onto his method of giving clues it is now a race to see who can work out the clues the faster, whether Nicolas and Frank can solve it and save the day or the killer ends another life. We are also introduced to Laurent who also works at the radio station but he also has a very bad gambling habit which destroyed his affair with Barbara, another radio station employee even though he was in love with her. As his creditors come calling, Laurent is saved by none other than Captain Ryan Mosse and he is offered the chance to help them in exchange for the money he desperately needs and Laurent can’t say no given how bad his situation has gotten.
When the next call comes they think they have figured out who the target is but they have got it completely wrong and Gregor Yatzimin, a ballet dancer ends up dead although the means of death for him is much kinder than the other two as the killer shoots him through the heart and even has a conversation with him beforehand and it seems like they know or know of each other. This wrong conclusion could be down to the massive amount of misdirection the killer is putting out or because the police haven’t yet pieced together who the ideal target is, while being attractive and relatively wealthy is some of the criteria I don’t think that is everything the killer is using to choose his victims. The aftermath of this murder is even worse than Yoshida’s as this man was beloved by the people for his skill and at the time he was being killed, the police were looking the wrong direction exactly as the killer wanted, however, the killer isn’t as frenzied with this murder as he holds some measure of respect for his victim which I can see in his love of music. However, Nicolas has been removed from the case with instruction to work through the back door, meaning none of his actions are official. Roby Stricker is also dead, the man they originally thought was the target but he managed to write the name of his murderer on the floor, one Ryan Mosse and even though General Parker is going to try and help him, he seems royally fucked.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, Frank and Nicolas get a lead off the record left in Yoshida’s home and Nicolas follows it up as he has the free time since he was removed from the case. When Frank checks in with the big bosses he is basically prompted to the role Nicolas previously filled and isn’t happy about it but he understands it as he has the experience in dealing with these types of cases while Nicolas does not. Frank also gets a visit from Helena Parker asking for his help and he isn’t sure what she wants but the resemblance he sees in her to his dead wife sometimes is immense and emotion overrules logic. Opting to leave the radio station earlier he takes Helena for dinner but they never make it as she confesses she knows a lot about him because of her father and that her son is also her brother meaning that her own father raped her and got her pregnant, and I agree with Frank if this guy shows up I would want Frank to kill him. I was very interested in the kiss between the pair and what this could mean going forward both for Frank and for the investigation because let’s be honest, Frank needs this. Nicolas has seemingly made a major break in the case as he tracks down the owner of the now closed record shop and he remembers a lot about the man since that particular record was extremely rare. He even proceeds a receipt baring the surname Legrand and a phone number. While the number is out of service, the name is tied to a farm called La Patience and he immediately heads there, here he meets a local who tells him the disturbing history of the farm as the former owner, Legrand brutally murdered his housekeeper and son before killing himself. The man even goes as far to say he disfigured his son so badly he didn’t have a face left and I know this is the body the killer is so fond of, however, the man doesn’t mention any other children so I can rule the killer out as a sibling meaning he has to be a lover or a friend to the body he called Paso. The caretaker of the cemetery tells Nicolas about the body of young Daniel Legrand being taken and that a mother of another boy who supposedly drowned at sea takes flowers to Daniel’s grave as well as that of her own son and this might be the connection the police have been looking for but before Nicolas can do anything he is looking down the barrel of a gun.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, things are really heating up and I can’t wait to see how it concludes. Holy hell, this got interesting fast as Frank knows that it was the killer that murdered Nicolas and not a car accident and finally all the pieces come together in his mind and he knows the identity of the killer. Obviously, he has been using an assumed name but they all trusted him with details of the investigation, in fact, he has been in the dead centre of it from the very beginning. As the police close in on him he murders three officers and escapes into the night but this is nowhere near finished yet. However, dear General Parker and Captain Mosse are sticking their noses in Frank’s business yet again, but now Frank knows the kind of man the General is thanks to Helena but I have a feeling she might become another victim to this investigation since the father she is terrified of now know about her association with Frank even if he doesn’t know they have been sleeping together. The General political sway may mean that this is the end of Frank’s career but Frank is a fighter and I have a feeling that he will catch the killer and deal with Captain Mosse and General Parker once and for all and maybe get a chance at a happy ending with Helena, after all they both deserve to be happy. They do get part of this as the General tightens his hold on Helena and we learn more of her upbringing but Frank has given her a cell phone and she uses it to tell him that she loves him but she is torn between the man she loves and her child. Meanwhile, there has been another murder since they haven’t been able to capture the killer and Frank is immediately on his trail.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, everything comes together in the most delightful way as Frank puts all the pieces together and captures the killer although he begins to see the duality of this man and why he is the way he is. In the aftermath of the capture, Frank knows the only thing he wants to do right now is be with the woman he has come to love and that means finally dealing with General Nathan Parker, since the killer already dealt with Ryan Mosse for him. In the airport as the General tries to fly his family back to the United States, Frank makes his stand and demands in return for his silence on the General’s affairs that would completely destroy him, he will return to the US alone, retire from public life and leave Helena and Stuart the hell alone and he has no choice but to agree given how important his image in meaning Frank and Helena finally get their happy ending. Learning the true history of the killer made me sympathise with him a lot against my will but he also has his happy ending as he has been reunited with the one he loved the most, although in a very strange way. Overall, it took me a while to really get into I, Kill but once I did I was absolutely hooked and I’d highly recommend it.
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