This book was reviewed for Lola’s Blog Tours

Warning: graphic descriptions. Adult readers only

Just Things, by Erin Lee, takes you on a wild ride to the depths of human depravity. It will hook you from the beginning, like the train wreck, the car accident, the blazing fire you just can’t look away from, though it terrify you to your bones. Jimmie Putnam is a clerk at a law firm. A seeming introvert, one with a bit of a stutter, Jimmie keeps to himself for the most part. Things start out…odd…but mostly mundane. Jimmie speaks to the reader, reminiscing at times. Slowly we become his captive audience. By the time we realise we should flee, it is too late, and we get a good close look at a true predator of humanity. Two such predators, to be precise, each hunting that most dangerous of game- man.

I must give Lee credit. To study the monsters among us, and delve so deep into their minds, that’s a brave thing to do, moreso if profiling is not your job. I found the writing method fascinating. To me, it perfectly represented the organised disorganisation of a serial killer’s mangled, scarred mind and defective thought processes. The story is shared directly with the reader by Putnam, and by Ross, as well as through journal entries, and news articles. I love the parallels between Putnam and Ross, how similar personalities developed so differently. How nature was tempered or warped by nurture, showing how fragile the line can be betwixt perceived notions of sanity and insanity. Whether it was through conscious choice or subconscious, I also loved the parallels between Florel Ross and Fox Mulder of X-Files fame. Mulder’s actual job is as a criminal profiler, and my favourite episode is ‘Paper Hearts’, where we get to see that side of him. Florel is a profiler, and like Mulder, she had a sister stolen in the night. I am quite looking forward to the sequel to this book!
???? Perfect for fans of Jeff Lindsey’s Dexter and Thomas Harris’ Hannibal, and those interested in serial killers in general.