“The sound made him shiver.”

The sound being that of bones cracking. Courtesy of The Gryphon, a serial killer that is terrorizing Los Angeles. A serial killer that Detective Sebastian Júarez Delgado is determined to stop!

The Gryphon decapitates his victims and then leaves a clay gryphon in one of their hands. Pretty gruesome stuff. Some a bit hard to read, including necrophilia, rape, and the aforementioned beheadings. As to the story itself, it starts strong, and slowly, slowly gets weaker. The love story is terrible, and the meek victim turning into the super tough-as-nails survivor is hard to believe. I don't think that 24 hours is enough for either plot point to be possible. But none-the-less, they are in here. I did like that the point of view shifted often between the killer, the detective, and the heroine and it moved the story along at a nice pace. Gross, but good! ( )

I love Michael Prescott, he has a sick and wicked mind. He does some sick ish to his characters and I love that about him. I want to be afraid and I want to be on the edge of my seat and he does it every time. He doesn't beat around the bush and write unrealistically. He gives it to you raw. His serial killers cut off faces and heads. They rape and bite. They are evil. This isn't your mama's thriller. Prescott is the real deal. ( )