This attitude is reflected in her own life, which is an austere one of refuge, personal integrity, and order. She believes that the world is a messy, uncontrollable place, but what we can control is what is inside our heads. Note: Nicci French is the pseudonym for the writing team of husband and wife Nicci Gerrard and Sean French.The stunning first book in a new series of psychological thrillers introducing an unforgettable London psychotherapist Frieda Klein is a solitary, incisive psychotherapist who spends her sleepless nights walking along the ancient rivers that have been forced underground in modern London.

Klein.) I also really like Karlsson, and hope to see him again as well. (This is the first in a planned series of eight featuring Dr. The main source of the twists is a clever gimmick that the authors won’t be able to repeat in the future, so I look forward to seeing if future books come up with as many twists and turns. I’m hoping that in future installments of this new series, the omniscient narrator will relent a little a give us more about Frieda’s interior life.Įvaluation: This is an incredibly scary thriller with plenty of twists. And in fact, at one point she tells someone that she never falls in love with her patients because she knows too much about their thoughts: “You can’t fall in love with someone if you know everything about them.” It’s a good character portrait, but it doesn’t help the reader get to know Frieda anymore than it helps Karlsson. She is unapt to reveal her vulnerabilities or doubts, and as Karlsson observes to his frustration, keeps herself to herself. She is afraid of deviation from routine, and afraid of being happy. She begins to work with Detective Chief Inspector Malcolm Karlsson, and soon is in incredible danger herself.ĭiscussion: Frieda tries to lead a very controlled, regulated life. In spite of her commitment to the confidentiality of patient confessions, she feels obliged to go to the police.

His dreams and thoughts preceding these attacks have aspects which sound remarkably like details of the abductions of children that have terrorized London. Frieda Klein is a psychotherapist in her mid-thirties who is seeing a patient, Alan Dekker, for panic attacks.

Nicci french blue monday series