Finished 4-22-12, rating 4/5, thriller, pub. 2011

I started this on audio, read by Peter Berkrot (12 hours 39 minutes) and finished with the print version after the discs turned faulty halfway through.

Charles Giles is successful, arrogant, and trying to distance himself from his family when he is fired from his job due to some questionable actions that Charlie cannot explain.  He is accused on espionage, an absurd thought to a company man like Charlie.  When co-workers and medical personnel tell him he’s going crazy, Charlie thinks he may believe them.  After all, his brother Joe is schizophrenic and his dad had his own mental health issues.  Locked up with crazy people will make even a sane man nuts and Charlie isn’t sure he’s a sane man, he did write that Kill List and one person on it had already died.

I liked this fast paced thriller.  Was Charlie crazy or could the circumstances of his firing have been manipulated?  His mother was in a coma and this led to a reconnection with the brother who he was trying to forget.  I liked the very real relationship between the two.  Charlie harbored a lot of bad feelings toward his brother that stole most of their mother’s attention.  Add into the mix that Charlie really felt like he was going crazy and could identify with his brother and the typical thriller becomes laced with a reality that leaves the reader satisfied.

Is Charlie paranoid or is he being set up?  Both choices are plausible and the book had me guessing til the reveal.  One minute I’d think Charlie was mentally unstable and the next I was sure he was bring set up.  This is an excellent debut and I look forward to more by Palmer!

I checked the audio out of the library and had an autographed book on my shelf.  Both were very good.