Extinction

In Davis’s forgettable serial killer novel, psychopathic psychotherapist Adam Neave, who preys chiefly on vulnerable women from his home in Weston-super-Mare near Bristol, attracts the attention of Det. Supt. Bill Winston and his team, one of whose more attractive female members goes undercover as a widow seeking Adam’s help. Adam manages to charm or fool almost everyone, from his admiring gay tenant, John Jameson, to fellow therapists at the Bereavement Drop-In Centre, while his catalogue of depredations increases at a dizzying rate. Those he can’t fool, Adam attempts to eliminate one way or another, including his brother, Nicholas, who shares police suspicions that Adam murdered his wife. Davis (Kiss It Away) strings out the story in a way to leave readers wondering how and how many Adam will ravish or kill before fate intervenes, but few will care by the end. (Dec.)