Book Review – XO

Kayleigh Towne, a beautiful young singing superstar, signs her fan mail XO. Most fans realise this is a form email sent to millions, but Edwin Sharp loves Kayleigh a little more than the average fan. And that XO means everything to him. Edwin sends gifts, mails messages to her private address and he knows everything about her. When he arrives in Fresno for a concert, Kayleigh and her entourage are stunned.

Kathryn Dance, music lover, is in town. Dance is a police officer, an agent with the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI). She is also Kayleigh’s friend. Dance is an expert in kinesics, but stalkers are the most difficult criminals to read. They believe their version of the truth. It is their reality.

A series of murders begin. The killer targets people close to Kayleigh, using the lyrics of Kayleigh’s song, Your Shadow to let everyone know he is about to kill. Dance joins the investigation. Is Sharp the killer? He cannot be tied to the murders. His intimate knowledge of Kayleigh is available to anybody from dedicated ‘stalker’ fan sites. The murders continue, new suspects emerge, and Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs make a guest appearance.

XO twists and turns and never disappoints. I finished the book in less than a day. Deaver is the master of the art of plotting stories of personal terror. His characters are complex, his dialogue is simple, and his pacing is perfect.