I’ll relieve the tension right away. I did not like Where the Bad Men Sleep much.

It’s a psychological thriller, and like so many books of that subgenre, it borders on horror. Such books can be very good; think of The Silence of the Lambs.

But this book by Rowan Merrick falls far below that level.

The hero (sort of) is Ray Matthews, a former police detective who resigned under pressure. (There’s also talk about articles he wrote, as if he moonlighted as a journalist, which seems unlikely. It wasn’t really explained as far as I can recall.)

Now his old superior calls him back in to view a murder scene. The victim was tortured to death, words carved into his body. The words are from an old article of Ray’s, in which he wrote about the official malfeasance that led to the release of his (Ray’s) wife’s murderer. The present victim is one of the men culpable in the injustice.

Ray’s problem is that he can’t recall where he was at the time of death. He experiences blackouts occasionally, and it’s been happening more often recently. He’s terrified that he committed the murder and doesn’t recall it. As the first half of the book continues, his fears grow.

The second half of the book turns (mostly) to his sister Charlene. We learn their family history, how she’s been covering for Ray for most of their lives, and how she has curtailed her own life, partly out of love and partly out of fear.

The book ends with a Big Surprise.

And a cliffhanger.

I don’t like cliffhangers. I consider cliffhangers an offense to the reader.

Also, I found the psychology of this book dubious. I thought the decisions of several characters implausible. And I considered the “solution” unnecessarily complex.

In short, I was disappointed with Where the Bad Men Sleep. Not recommended.