Rating: 
Summary: Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave...............
Review: The Red Room takes place in London, and Nicci French lets the personality of that city really come through. Kit Quinn, the female protagonist, is a psychiatrist called upon to evaluate a bizarre homeless man in police custody. The consequence of her interview is brutal and leads her to become involved in a grisly murder investigation. Along the way, her personal life comes very much into play. The clues are few and far between, leaving the reader with little opportunity to play detective. There is, however, a nice twist or two at the end. Maybe not as suspenseful as Beneath the Skin, but still a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Exciting psychological thriller
Review: The Stretton Green Police ask Market Hill Hospital for the Criminally Insane and Welborn Clinic Dr. Katherine "Kit" Quinn to evaluate Michael Doll. Parents have complained about the seemingly disturbed young male hanging around elementary schools and since he has a bit of a record for exposure, the police want a professional psychiatric opinion. However, in front of DI Furth, Michael smashes a mug and uses a sharp piece of glass to carve up Kit's face. A few months later, Kit is out of the hospital having physically recovered except for a scar, but suffers nightmares from the assault. When DI Furth asks for her help with the murder investigation of a female teenager in which Michael is the prime suspect, a reluctant Kit agrees because she knows she must "humanize" her demon. Perhaps if Kit knew what is in store for her with this case, she would have said no and preferred to lived with her demonizing Doll. THE RED ROOM is an exciting psychological thriller starring a great lead character psychologically suffering from the aftermath of the brutal attack by Michael. Kit knows she must confront the evil she has painted on the face of her attacker. Once she succeeds in de-demonizing her assailant, Kit still cannot let go of the case as her need to do the right thing propels her to continue to work on the investigation. It is her character that turns Nicci French's tale into an absorbing chiller that never allows the audience to catch their breath. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Elegant, Understated--and Flawed
Review: This book begins with a startling and violent attack, in stark counterpoint to the exquisite control (a Nicci French hallmark) with which the authors tell the rest of the story. Kit Quinn is a forensic psychiatrist in her early thirties. As the story opens, she is at loose ends, still grieving over the end of a long-term relationship. She is forced to focus, however, when the local police call her into a case involving a highly disturbed young man named Michael Doll. Kit's first encounter with Doll is memorable, as is the description of his terrible, squalid existence. As Kit recoils from Doll's peculiar, unwashed odor, the reader does too...and as she struggles to learn whether he is indeed the psychopathic serial killer the police think he is, we also feel her pity for this pathetic lost soul. Pity, however, will not solve the string of brutal murders, nor will it render Kit safe from harm. As she goes through her days, shared by a rollicking and impossibly fey friend called Julia who has showed up on her doorstep looking for a place to stay, we become increasingly concerned for her well-being (and Julia's). Only later do we realize that Kit is beautiful, brilliant, and interesting. The very type of woman to attract a psychopath. Or two. Or...as the authors subtly but inexorably imply...perhaps more. Perhaps the very man with whom Kit eventually shares her bed... The suspense in "The Red Room" is much more subtle than in "Killing Me Softly" and "Beneath the Skin," the authors' most recent offerings. But it is there. And palpable. Is the repulsive but pathetic Michael Doll the murderer? Kit's instincts tell her no. But if he is not bludgeoning women to death, who is? The enigmatic Will Pavic, a former businessman who now runs a halfway house for disturbed teenagers? Or even, as this reader wonderered, a rogue cop? Whoever it is, it is inevitable that he will strike out at Kit. And there lies the suspense. Suddenly, as this brilliant story builds to its peak, the book ends. The killer is revealed, various plot lines are swiftly and unsatisfactorily pulled together, and there is a truly ridiculous and unnecessary epilogue that provides the final clue. One gets the feeling that the authors suddenly realized it was deadline time, finished the book in record time, and at the last minute, felt they needed to tie up the final loose end. What a terrible disappointment, after such a well-written, taut, and yes, elegant, thriller! The sloppiness of the last few chapters is so unlike the authors that one feels betrayed. Would I still recommend this book? Absolutely, if only for the pure pleasure of the writing style, which does endure until the very last page. But don't expect the brilliance of "Killing Me Softly" and "Beneath the Skin," because it simply isn't there.
Rating:
Summary: a compelling page-turner!
Review: When a disturbed derelict is caught hanging around a London schoolyard it is part of Dr. Kit Quinn's job to interviewing him & when he attacks her, he cracks her self-confidence & she begins to dream about a red room where nightmares become real. The red room is a frightening concept, something we all have deeply inside us, where our deepest fears lie. When Kit finally finds the truth, it seems reality is, if possible, even worse than her red room. A compelling page-turner with an ending you'd never expect. Another winner from Nicci French!
Rating:
Summary: The Cover Tells Too Much!!!
Review: While I did like "The Red Room", I kept wondering when the actual book would catch up with the information I'd already learned by reading the back cover blurb. This was a little annoying and made the book seem a bit long. I don't mind a long book I'm really enjoying, but I don't like waiting for something to happen that I already know about (kinda like seeing too many trailers before a movie). I very much enjoy the author's writing style, altho in this case I would say I still prefer "Killing Me Softly" and "Beneath The Skin" as more mysterious and sexy and held together as stories. This one had a little too much going on and I felt like one scenario kept repeating itself: The police would tell Dr Quinn they didn't need her on the case anymore, she would beg them to listen to her which would irk them, and then she would prove them wrong again...and again. There were several nice little twists to the story that I appreciated (and won't give away, altho it would be too complicated to anyway), so I still recommend the book, but going by my personal rule of only hanging onto books I've read that I plan to someday read again, I'm passing "The Red Room" along, rather than putting it next to Nicci French's two others on my bookshelves.
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