Book Review: Dead of Knight by William R. Potter

Dead of Knight: A Jack Staal Mystery

William R. Potter

RealTime Publishing (2009)

ISBN 9781849610261

Reviewed by Charline Ratcliff for RebeccasReads (11/10)

I was recently asked if I would be interested in reviewing “Dead of Knight” by author William R. Potter. This book falls into the murder/mystery category and while it’s not my usual reading genre I agreed to review it. I’m glad I did because it was a great book.

The story location for “Dead of Knight” is Canada which, for me, was a really nice change. The book’s premise is this: A delusional young man believing himself to be a “soldier of justice” starts what he feels is a righteous crusade of cleansing. His victims are handpicked and meticulously stalked in order to learn their daily habits until he finally slaughters them on their birthday. I, for one, will pass on that birthday surprise thank you very much… Because of this killer’s gruesome practices the media has nicknamed him “Birthday Boy.” This nickname doesn’t sit too well with him - he wants to be taken seriously but…what’s a serial killer to do? And of course no tale featuring a heinous villain would be truly complete without an equally good counterpart trying to bring the evildoer to justice. Meet Detective Jack Staal who is assigned to this gruesome case. Jack is understandably horrified at the trail of bodies “Birthday Boy” leaves in his wake and he is determined to put an end to his reign of terror. Consequently Jack Staal will stop at almost nothing in order to apprehend this psychopath.

I’m happy to say I found “Dead of Knight” to be a fantastic read. Potter possesses great writing skills; he is appropriately descriptive and the story flows smoothly. “Dead of Knight” was suspenseful and I would agree with the back jacket’s statement that “Dead of Knight” is a cat and mouse thriller sure to delight fans…” I also appreciated that “Dead of Knight” wasn’t too easy to figure out and I admired the various plot twists that the author skillfully threw in here and there.

In summary I give “Dead of Knight” a five-star Amazon rating. It’s a riveting read but it is definitely aimed for mature readers..

William R. Potter's page at The Independent Author Network