Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
The world is full of evil men who grab the headlines and place terror into the hearts of those too young to understand the reasons why they have been chosen, a target for the sick, an objective for the gruesome, it is the actions of the tasteless and the humanly revolting. Yet, somehow we find ourselves in the nightmare they create, we wish to see order restored but we are fascinated, intrigued, by how their brain works, what makes a person do such depraved acts, the methods they employ and how the police become involved in Hunting A Predator.
J. E. Locke offers a particular way of unravelling the mind of one such individual, and achieves it without getting embroiled in the actual act, valiantly never stepping over the line of what might be deemed acceptable in the eyes of the reader, the writer instead takes an almost procedural approach to the case he has weaved, by passing the more extreme emotions felt by the suspect, and instead concentrates upon the ways in which the crimes impacts on society as a whole.
To tackle such an issue without giving the criminal the time to state his case is perhaps a tricky one to conquer in today’s more sensitively stated world, however J. E. Locke succeeds, it is almost as if he exemplifies the point of never giving the criminal the one thing they desire the most, publicity for their actions. By concentrating on the accomplishments of those charged with bringing the perpetrator to justice, of the way that Superintendent Brian Tyson builds a team, of seeing the potential in a young black man who has been misshaped by society, J. E. Locke underlines the importance of belief and conviction when all else is shrouded in the fog that refuses to clear.
Hunting A Predator is almost forensic in its own delivery, detailed analysis, a near day by day account in diary form, the players moving into position, the suspect broken down into information and bits of incoming data, procedure at all times, a watchword for the author’s own stamp of personality that comes through, one to whom a moral sense of right and wrong is paramount.
Hunting A Predator is a book that motivates the reader in a particular direction, that steers clear of the sensational and makes the art of crime one that is based in the series of events, the minute details in which tracking down such a person of interest becomes the key to solving the mystery.
Hunting A Predator is available to purchase from Beaten Track Publishing.
Ian D. Hall