Displays professional pace and is difficult to put down: what used to be described as a 'real page turner'.

Mantis has an excellent, contemporary plot, always nicely written and the running descriptions of nature in the background seem effortless. The book has good characters, especially the believable policeman hero. The psychological aspect, as in the analysis of the hero's thinking, is acute, and the 'technical' stuff – i.e. the forensic psychiatrist's explanation of the serial killer's thinking – is superior and well justified.

All in all, it is a work of absolutely professional standard.