4 out of 4 stars
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Could you kill someone? You don’t think you could, do you? E. Raye Turonek makes you wonder if you could do such a thing. Compelled to Murder has the reader thinking they might be able to, but then again, maybe not.
Megan and John are a married couple with two children, Samantha and Shawn. The story begins with Megan and John coming home from a dinner date, finding Samantha horrifically murdered in their home. Most of the story starts approximately one year after the murder. Distraught beyond imagination, the family and town must deal with the aftermath, as well as many other unexplained, grisly murders taking place.
For a multitude of reasons, Megan and John are now estranged. Coping with the loss of their daughter and other issues, they find themselves losing each other. Their teenage son, Shawn, is moody and rebellious. He spends most of his time with his secret girlfriend, Emma, as well as his school friends. He does not want to explain his whereabouts to his parents. Mary fears for her son’s life as more and more people disappear, but cannot get John to help her deal with it. Is it teenage angst or something else? John is obsessed with finding the killer. A new man named Steve is infiltrating their lives. Steve seems to show up everywhere, making John wonder about him, to the point he starts following him around. Ron, John’s best friend, is exhibiting strange behaviors as well.
Police cannot figure this string of murders out. There are a few different ways that people are being killed and no obvious suspects. Do they have more than one murderer on their hands? Are the relationships what they seem to be? On the other hand, is something far more sinister going on in Crimson County?
The different parts of the story seem like stories within stories until they are all tied together in the end in rather unexpected ways. Throughout the story, readers think they have predicted the outcome, but then it changes. Even as one starts reading the final chapter, and thinks they know the answers, they are shocked at the turn of events. As one reads, one is led to think about life and how it’s really not very hard to end it. One wonders if they could kill and what could possibly cause them to do so.
Note that there are some very graphic sexual scenes that can really turn your stomach. The same holds with some of the descriptions of the murderous attacks. Some people might not be able to deal with the visuals, as the writer does make what is happening seem so real.
Compelled to Murder is one of the best crime stories I have read in a very long time. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. This book has surprisingly left me wondering whether people I know, perhaps among my friends and neighbors, who are otherwise normally good citizens of society, could be compelled to murder. One really shouldn’t go to sleep in the middle of reading this book!
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Compelled To Murder
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Great job on the review. Congratulations to E RayeTuronek on such an obviously well written book.
