Bantam, May 2001, 5.99, 322 pp.
ISBN: 0553580094
Several years ago, forensic psychiatrist Lucas Frank closed down his Beacon Street practice because he was weary of profiling mass murderers and other inhuman monsters. He retreated to Lake Albert, Michigan and rejected all efforts to return to his previous work. However, now he will take on the occasional interesting case even reluctantly returning to Boston to do so though hating to leave his haven.
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Lucas' best friend Ray Bolton asks him to observe the hearings of Felix Zrbny, who at twenty-nine, wants to be released from the psychiatric facility he was remanded to as a fourteen year old cold blooded killer of three people. Before Lucas arrives, Felix escapes to complete his murderous mission that was interrupted by the police fifteen years ago. Lucas assists the Boston police in their desperate search to keep other innocents from dying.
John Philpin creates a villain that obtains reader empathy as Felix selects his victims from those he believes deserves death for what they allegedly did to him. Lucas is an observer who predicts actions and motives of others without participating in the hunt. However, Lucas admits that he remains in the dark when it comes to understanding Felix. THE MURDER CHANNEL depicts the media as a participant in making the news adding to a drama that leaves the audience shaking their head yet feeling they read a remarkable novel.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
