Red 1-2-3 by John Katzenbach

Published by Mysterious Press on January 7, 2014

Red 1-2-3 is built on a clever premise. An undistinguished writer of crime fiction who happens to be a serial killer decides to write an instruction manual for serial killers. He has selected three redheads as victims to illustrate his methods. He intends to commit and memorialize the perfect crime because, well, he's getting old and feels the need for a legacy. By killing three women within hours of each other, each in a different way and after warning them of their fate, the writer believes he will take his place in the annals of serial killer history and launch his book to bestseller status.

Each Red receives a letter in the mail that begins with the opening of Little Red Riding Hood and ends with "You have been selected to die." One Red is a lonely doctor who performs remarkably unfunny standup comedy routines as a hobby. One is a former teacher and current lush whose husband and daughter died in an accident. The third is an angry high school student. They could form a support group for distressed redheads (which is sort of what they do). The would-be killer, of course, is the Big Bad Wolf. His wife, who is blissfully ignorant of her husband's hobby during most of their marriage (or perhaps she's willfully stupid), is Mrs. Big Bad Wolf.

John Katzenbach creates a strong psychological profile of the killer, making him a more substantial character than any of the Reds, who tend to be stereotypes. The sullen teenager is the most competent of the three Reds, but her notion of how to deal with an anonymous letter is an eye-roller. The simplest solution would be for each intended victim to change her hair color, thus screwing up the killer's theme and perhaps sending the killer in search of a new plan, but that never occurs to them. They instead contrive a plan that only the looniest residents of Thrillerworld would attempt. I guess going to the police (only one of the three does so, and only once) would be less interesting but it would certainly be more sensible than the plan the Reds hatch. Fortunately, they aren't dealing with a killer or is particularly energetic or even particularly bright. He is convinced that the police will not connect the three killings as long as he commits each murder in a different way. Even if he had not sent each Red a threatening letter and You Tube video, would the police really not connect the apparently unmotivated slayings of three redheads in the same city at roughly the same time?

Unfortunately, this is a thriller without many thrills. For most of the novel, the plot lacks action and builds little tension. I spent quite a bit of my reading time wondering when the killer would get out of his writing chair and actually kill someone. You know the story is getting dull when you start rooting for the killer just so something will happen. The ending is a huge anti-climax. Despite Katzenbach's fluid writing and the novel's interesting premise, the story didn't grab me. The fundamental problems is that Katzenbach didn't make me care what happened to the redheads. That's a serious interest-killer in a novel that pits intended victims against a serial killer.

NOT RECOMMENDED