I’ve read all of Stephen White’s other books so, of course, I had to read this one. This story has his continuing characters, Alan Gregory, a psychologist in Boulder, CO, and Sam Purdy, Boulder police detective and good friend of Alan’s, the heart-attack-waiting-to-happen guy in previous stories. This time the author gives almost equal time to both characters in separate, but commingled plots.

Gibbs (strange name for a female) Storey, a former client from 10 years ago, shows up at Alan’s office as a client again. She’s allegedly so drop-dead gorgeous and well formed that grown men revert to drooling adolescents when they first see her. (Please guys, get a grip.) She has come to Alan this time around because she knows her husband, Sterling, has killed several women and she wants Alan’s help and encouragement to turn the guy in (she’s a tad flaky, too). He has her sign a limited release so he can at least get her into a Safe House and tell the cops something to get them on the right track without revealing any confidences.

Subplots include Alan’s wife, Lauren, their daughter, Grace, and their dogs, Emily and Anvil; Sam’s heart attack, his wife, Sherry, and his son, Simon; Gibbs’s assorted tales of woe and whining; Sterling’s alleged death; and someone bugging Alan’s office…who and why?

While recuperating from his MI, Sam runs off across the country to find Sterling, and meets up with the California investigator originally called in on the case (the first murder was in CA). Together they try to protect the next intended victim. Suddenly, they and Alan are all “blinded” by the realization of who the real killer is.