5 *****

Reviewed on April 5, 2011

In U-TURN KiLLuR, author Teric Darken has written another fantastically suspenseful thriller that delves into the dark realm of human pain and weakness, yet which, at the same time, offers the hope of a light which can not only pierce, but can overcome, this darkness.

Firefighter and aspiring author, Lieutenant Gabe McLaughlin, is struggling to balance his job, his dream of finishing his novel and the quality time necessary to nurture his relationship with his family, when his world is turned upside down in a most terrifying way. His best friend, Detective Jeff Spencer, is shocked and devastated to have to give Gabe the ghastly news that his mother, and the caring woman who has also been like a mother to Jeff, has been horrifically murdered by a deranged killer who mutilated his victim, cutting off her limbs and carving a sinister message into her flesh. This gruesome crime is not to be the only, however, and the tormented Gabe is abruptly thrust into a nightmarish world where his family is stalked by a malefic killer and Gabe himself is pursued by frightful demons both from without and from within.

A story of non-stop action and mind-bending twists, U-TURN KiLLuR is also a fascinating examination of the human mind and spirit as it battles incomprehensible darkness and seeks the only light that can save us in the war between good and evil and in the battles we fight within ourselves. This is an insightful novel about temptation and the insidious way evil can twist our best intentions to serve its purposes wrapped inside a hellishly unnerving thriller, and is another haunting and thought-provoking work by an extremely talented author. A story I highly recommend to every reader who loves suspense, especially the kind in which the underlying spiritual message is one of hope in the very depths of darkness.