Don't Look In by Tom Saric {Book Review}

This is the first book I have read by this author, and I will certainly be looking for more mysteries from him as Don’t Look In was an amazing read!

Disclosure: I received this book to review through iRead Book Tours, I have volunteered to share my review and all the opinions are 100% my own.

A PSYCHIATRIST BECOMES PRIME SUSPECT IN THE MURDERS OF HIS PATIENTS IN A NEW THRILLER

The patients of psychiatrist Gus Young are turning up dead in Tom Saric’s new thriller, DON’T LOOK IN (October 6, 2020; Severn River Publishing), and he is the main suspect.

Gus fled the big city to escape the shame, gossip and glares of his family, friends and colleagues after he tarnished his reputation. He ends up in a small, backwater rural town in Maine where no one will know him and he can start his life over. But someone is out to get him, and is framing him for the murders of his patients.

Wanda Flynn, the sexy town prostitute who is having an illicit affair with the married mayor, is demanding that he leave his wife for her. Her brother has just been released from jail after a ten-year sentence, and is back in town. It was Wanda’s testimony that was pivotal in sealing his conviction. Suddenly she is found dead, shot in the head in front of her apartment, shortly after she had unburdened her secrets, fears and desires to Gus Young. Because of patient-client confidentiality, Gus cannot reveal that she is his client, nor what she revealed to him, even if it will help to solve the murders, or clear his name as a suspect.

Then another patient, Ned, who is suffering from paranoia and is sure he knows the identity of Wanda’s killer, is found dead in his home after he had an altercation with Gus that left him bleeding on the floor. The police find bullets in both victims that match a rare gun, the Lee-Enfield No.4, which has mysteriously vanished from Gus’s basement. And they find Wanda’s turquoise necklace in his possession.

All the evidence point to Gus. He is the prime suspect in the murders, but in order to protect his clients’ confidentiality, even after they are dead, Gust doesn’t reveal information that can prove his —Over— innocence. Gus puts his own life in jeopardy in a desperate effort to clear his name and track down the real killer. When his estranged daughter comes to visit him, her life and the life of his trusted friend Sheila, are in jeopardy from the real killer who wants to do them harm. As a sinister plot unravels, Gus discovers a horrible secret about his past.

Tom Saric, who is a psychiatrist, packs his thriller with quirky characters: the cross-dresser, the married couple who don’t enjoy sex, the psychopath who is a petty criminal, the town sex-worker, and a love interest, the tall beautiful blonde who shares his love of country music and is the first woman to show an interest in him after his messy divorce.

DON’T LOOK IN is the first in a series featuring psychiatrist Gus Young who uses his acuity in understanding the human psyche to solve murders. Fans of the HBO series, In Treatment starring Gabriel Byrne, will relish the character of Gus Young as he solves murders using psychological, not forensic, evidence.

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There is nothing I love more than a well written “who done it” that confuses me, pulls me, and wants me wishing I could crawl back in bed to read instead of go on about my normal day!

The book opens up – grabbing you by the collar and yanking you in – with a scene from… something. I’m not going to lie; it confused me. I wasn’t sure what was happening and after reading a little further into the beginning, I realized I had zero clue.

And would continue to have zero clue until the author wanted me to have one!

Being a psych major myself, I immediately related to Gus, but things weren’t all adding up for me. Someone so infamous (I am still not 100% sure what led to his downfall precisely) now having issues that could not only jeopardize his job, but his license.

As we follow Gus, we find more things that just don’t add up with an occasional sprinkling of a side situation that doesn’t quite fit with our characters, the situation, or anything else happening in the story. It almost felt like picking up someone’s phone call through your baby monitor. It just didn’t fit, but deep down, you know it all links together – you just don’t know how. Yet.

A little bragging – I had one (yes, only one) part of the puzzle… partially correct. (I had a suspect who was a suspect, but not in the way I thought they were.) And then, just when you think you have it all figured out, this bomb gets thrown in and you are taken on a whole other trip that has an even bigger bomb (which, a part of me started to suspect, but I didn’t really think it was accurate!)

I enjoyed this read so much. I will definitely be seeking more mystery reads from this author because this was one of the best mystery books I have read in quite a while. There are not many mystery authors that can keep me engaged, wanting to say “forget life” so I can read, and keep me guessing an entire book so when I find them; they are like a rare diamond to me!

If you are a fan of mysteries and a really good “who done its” that keep you guessing; Don’t Look In is definitely a book to pick up. You won’t be sorry.

About the Author
Tom Saric, a pseudonym, has been practicing psychiatry for ?? years. He has written several thrillers, including, Indicted, and Compromise. DON’T LOOK IN is the first in a series featuring psychiatrist Gus Young. Saric lives in Canada.