Don't Look Now

June 18, 2018
British author Manning’s first novel ably explores timely subject matter, such as how social media is irrevocably changing the world, but the cast of largely forgettable characters and an anticlimactic conclusion make for a middling reading experience. A serial killer who posts images of his victims on social media has the populace of London terrified—but also morbidly enthralled. Thousands are monitoring the internet for the psychopath’s latest gruesome posts. Det. Chief Insp. Dan Fenton, who’s been struggling to raise an 11-year-old daughter since his wife died from cancer, is heading the case; but when his nanny becomes one of the killer’s victims, it becomes personal. While Fenton is conspicuously cardboard, Adam Blake, a former investigative journalist suffering from PTSD, whose ex-girlfriend was the killer’s first victim, is one of the book’s few bright spots. The strong social media hook (“If murder was a click away, would you look?”) compensates only in part for an unremarkable story line. Agent: Madeline Milburn, Madeline Milburn (U.K.).