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Title: "Think of a Number"
Author: John Verdon
Published: 2010
Genre: Detective Fiction

Threatening letters arrive in the mail over a period of weeks, ending with a simple declaration: “Think of any number…picture it…now see how well I know your secrets.” Those who comply find that the letter writer has predicted their random choice exactly. But when oddities that begin as a diverting puzzle quickly ignite into a massive serial murder investigation, police are confronted with a baffling killer, one who is fond of rhymes filled with threats and warnings, whose attention to detail is unprecedented, and who has an uncanny knack for disappearing into thin air.

Brought in as an investigative consultant, Dave Gurney, a recently retired NYPD homicide investigator, soon accomplishes deductive breakthroughs that leave local police in awe. Yet, even as he matches wits with his seemingly clairvoyant opponent, Gurney’s tragedy-marred past rises up to haunt him, his marriage approaches a dangerous precipice, and he wonders if he’s met an adversary who can’t be stopped.

Have I ever said that I am passionate about these kinds of books? I love trying to find out who the killer is or who hides behind a pseudonym while I read. Well, I do not think I need to tell you how much I liked it.

Every time I went through a bookstore the nine bloody numbers on the cover would not stop my attention and ask me to read it already. In a few days I did. I launched without thinking about how terrifying it could be, since I knew nothing about the author or the book, but do not worry the novel does not enter the genre of terror, it is not scary, it is an impressive police story where the suspense is present during the more than fifty chapters.

The story starts stomping from the beginning (it's true that I would remove some pages from the beginning), without bringing anything new, turns out to be a series of puzzles that kept me hooked until the end. In spite of its many chapters and pages, it is a very light reading and in very few occasions, to say the least, I came in to read "diagonally". Sincerely the style of the author, John Verdon, I have loved. He has done a great job, he always goes to the point, but he has a way of telling the story of a very peculiar and unique boss. It takes very well the "sample, but do not say" in all the descriptions. I have come to know all the characters without missing the long descriptions that are usually found in other books.

From the beginning David Gurney has fascinated me, is the typical retired detective who loves his work and he can't stop. With years of experience in his work, he is able to teach and help much more than other policemen with less years of experience and that I have loved him. Apart from the protagonist, the antagonist is another of my favourite characters, the character I'm talking about is X. Arybdis. His intelligence has enchanted me, has been able to commit the murders going unnoticed and making the investigators believe that he was the victim. His incredible plan has surprised me a lot, he has been able to come up with an almost perfect plan, nor did I myself think that he could be the killer something that surprised me a lot at the end of the novel.

The only "fault" or glue that I can put to this book is that it gave me the feeling that I had already read this type of story before. I refer to the clichés and topics: the homosexual forty-year-old who runs a hostel decorated in gaudy colours, the gifted detective who lives a tormented life, the police with bad fleas ... and so could review all the characters in this novel.

I have read this book more than once and I am sure I will read it many more times. If you like fiction detective novels I fully recommend this reading as the other books of this incredible saga.

"To discover the truth in myself, I must stop insisting what I already know it."