Library of the Dead

Glenn Cooper

Arrow Books

Random House 2009

People are being killed in New York, ordinary people with no apparent connection to each other. The only thread that connects them is that just before their murder each has received a postcard with a crudely drawn coffin on it. Since it appears a new serial killer may be on the loose, the FBI is called in. Reluctantly they assign the case to Will Piper, a drunken womanising agent who is just barely hanging onto his job until retirement. He is the logical choice since, despite his personal problems, he is still the FBI’s best profiler. Even Will is finding it hard to get more than a very basic profile on the killer. Or is he a killer? Killers usually stick to the same modus operandi and each killing that Will investigates seems to have nothing in common with previous ones. Finding a link will require some brilliant detective work and insights.

In a series of flashbacks we also follow a group of medieval monks in an abbey off the coast of Britain. They have discovered a terrible secret, but they don’t know what they have – is it a gift from God or a curse.

The stories of Will Piper and the monks will intertwine, and Will himself will have to examine his past critically. As he gets closer to the truth, it seems someone else, someone powerful, is watching him, and his own life may be in danger.

This is the first novel by Glenn Cooper. He is also a screenwriter and producer, and has had some success with his early works. Screenwriting is not the same as novel writing and there are some rough edges in his characterisations, but he has constructed a gripping suspense story that keeps changing direction. Like the film Knowing, also reviewed in this issue, he questions whether our lives are truly random or predetermined by some greater force. What would happen if someone tapped that force? The plot elements are doled out sparingly, ensuring that the mystery remains right up to the final pages. The story falls into place eventually but it is not the story you expect.

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This review will appear in Volume 2 No.4 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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