Book of Matthew: A Macabre Novel of Suspense

By Thomas White

Grizzled insomniac San Francisco Homicide Inspector Clemson Yao enlists the help of Angie Strachan—a San Francisco realtor who once tried and failed to become the city's first female homicide inspector—to help him solve a series of frightening murders. The two face off against a ghoulish, black-humored serial killer who whimsically refers to his grotesque murders as "messies." Gripped by macabre obsession for a decade, he's evolved into a grandmaster of slow, anguished death, roaming the globe to catalog the most despicable and clever methods of execution. As Clem and Angie slowly unravel the murderer's clues, they realize he has his next victim already picked out—and it seems there is nothing they can do to stop him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: McBooks Press
• Release date: Aug 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9781590133194

Thomas White

A native Northern Californian, Thomas White is a retired professional musician who has performed in both the U.S. and Europe. He resides in Carmichael, CA. THE RUNECASTER is his first published novel.

Reviews for Book of Matthew

[hippolytus_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A rather standard plot is saved by winning characters and a smooth, if sometimes florid, writing style. Overall, a fine debut novel, and an author I will watch.

[kevmalone · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fine debut novel, the prologue is excellent but the first few chapters following suffer from over-writing (maybe underediting). This notwithstanding, White quickly finds his feet and leads us assuredly through his grisly tale of an imaginative serial killer with a list of targets. Starting off his work quite methodically the killer finds he has only a short time to check all the names off his list, this plot point, which serves to ramp up the suspense factor, is handled confidently and shows White to be a writer of considerable promise. The SF setting is used more in a cultural (gosh what a melting pot we are!) rather than a geographic sense which was a disappointment however White does use that diversity to some effect, he handles dialog well, and clearly has a good knowledge of different cultures.The two main characters, Homicide Inspector Yao and police volunteer Strachan, are well drawn, other characters are handled reasonably well with the exception of three caricatures (a police officer, a prison warden and a hospital administrator). These last three were little more than generic rednecks with job titles: a lazy approach considering the care taken with other characters.Not a bloody novel by any means, but there is some horror here, the pacing only a flags a little at the end of the second third of the novel but picks up after that and ends with a thoroughly satisfying finale.Recommended for fans of the serial killer genre. A writer to watch. (Guess I missed the Early Review copies :))

[linellsb1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Macabre? Absolutely. Suspenseful? Oh yeah. This one delivers it all and YES, you can read it all in one day. But be prepared to think about it for many days after.

[nikita369fl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a very good

[purelush · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well written and executed. Sometimes the metaphors run away with themselves, but otherwise, a nice solid crime novel. I look forward to more from this author.

[astarisborn_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I couldn't help but close the book and hide my eyes quite a few times during this book! Believe it or not, I read this book in one sitting. Thomas White does a fantastic job writing this fast-paced page turning novel.Yao and Angie (realtor/agent), find a body at one of the homes and in the mind of this serial killer named Matthew, who researches some of the most brutal ways to kill and torture people, who calls his crimes "messies" will keep you guessing until the very end. Catching a brutal serial killer isn't easy.Yao and Angie are frustrated because they are always just one step behind this mad man. They knew it wouldn't be easy, but this hard? The characters in this book are anything but flat and kept me up well into the night. The descriptions of the torture and killings are graphic and amazingly unique. This book kept me up at night and that's just the way I like them. while not for the squeamish, I would highly recommend this book! From cover to cover, I loved everything about it. White's writing talents are amazing! I definitely look forward to reading more from this author! This book will always have a place on my book shelf.

[etrainer_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Serial killers, their heinous killing methods, and the men and women who try to bring them to justice. It's the same basic story over and over. Yet the endless variations in the details keep me reading this type of novel.In Thomas White's version, the bizarre ways the killer disposes of and displays his victims are key to maintaining interest in the story. I was fascinated. The detectives, Clemson Yao and his unofficial sidekick, Angie Strachan, often seem comic rather than the tough wisecracking variety I think they were intended to be. Their lingo, or maybe references I just didn't get, was difficult to understand at times. This contributed to my feeling that their quirky characteristics were overblown. Matthew, the villain, was suitably creepy and, in my opinion, more realistic.As is often the case in this type of story, when the killer's identity is known and his next victim has been snatched from his or her protectors, the heroes must rush to avert another disaster. Yao pulls a rabbit out of a hat in this novel, leaving the reader with a somewhat unsatisfying resolution.Even with these criticisms, I enjoyed the book and I look forwarded to White's next story. I expect there will be improvements.

[cdnshopaholic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. It is a fast-paced page turner. The story focuses on a unique serial killer and the team that are trying to catch him. It is a basic story that has been done many times before, and in this instance has been done well. I enjoyed the characters and look forward to seeing them in future books. It was interesting to get a glimpse into the minds of the 'hero' characters who are normally kept to a higher moral standard and get a glimpse into what is probably a more accurate portrayal of the 'gray' areas when dealing with criminals. This is a great novel and I would recommend reading it!

[mniday_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Inspector Clemson Yao finds himself chasing a psychopathic serial killer in The Book of Matthew. To make things more difficult, this serial killer knows that he is dying and wants to take as many people with him as possible. With the help of reservist and San Francisco realtor Angie Strachan, Inspector Yao must find this killer and prevent others from dying. Matthew has a passion for creating his “messies”. Each one is different, making the search for him all the more frustrating. The victims are tortured before they die, and they die in horrifying ways. The crimes are so brutal that Inspector Yao finds himself wondering if this monster should be allowed to live when caught. I found this book very stimulating. It was quite a relief to read a serial killer thriller that doesn’t double as a crime scene investigative instruction manual. There was use of forensics in this book, but they were treated as a tool and not the overwhelming motif of the book. Each of the characters was believable, yet interesting. I also enjoyed getting to experience the story from both the “good” and “bad” vantage points. Thomas White could easily turn these characters into a recurring series of books. This book was a real page turner for me and I look forward to reading more books from this author.

[24girl_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

San Francisco Homicide Inspector Clemson Yao and realtor/police reservist Angie Strachan are put to the test when Angie discovers the body of a young girl at one of her real estate listings. The two, along with a few side characters, are drawn into a desperate race against a twisted serial killer, who refers to his murders as “messies”. The murderer is identified as Mathew. An abused boy who grew into a monster that researches and documents the some of the most bizarre methods of killings throughout history. Clem and Angie are frustratingly always one step behind the madman but are able to identify two potential victims. They work against odds to save these two lives but Matthew has put a lot of time and thought into his crimes and it seems no one can stop him.I have to say that the subtitle really hits the mark. This is a macabre novel of suspense. From Matthew’s research to the recounting of Clem’s nightmares White really creeps me out and I love it even though I can attribute one really bad nightmare to the book. I look forward to reading more from Thomas White and recommend this book to all suspense and horror lovers.

[bookshop_lady · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is one freaky book. You spend a lot of time inside the mind of the killer, and that's not a pretty place to be.The author overuses similes and metaphors. Try this one: "She's as narcissistic as a debutante coming down the stairs to the ballroom." HUH? And every page has at least 2 like this. More than once I found the similes and metaphors pulling me completely out of the story.There are several places where conversations go on for a page or more without any attribution. I found myself going back to the beginning to figure out who said what. That's distracting. There were also lots of conversations between characters that were more like eavesdropping on strangers than intentionally written dialogue. The characters would be using cop lingo peculiar to San Francisco homicide but that the reader had no reference for. Or the dialogue would begin at a point that surely must have been several minutes into a conversation and somehow the early parts got left on the cutting room floor.So from a technical perspective, this is a book with problems. The main characters were likable but not compelling. The ending was a little too deux ex machina for my tastes, or maybe an example of the cavalry riding to the rescue. This book would make a fantastic movie. It just isn't what I was expecting in a novel.

[novelbookworm_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

People are dying in the creepiest weirdest way ever imagined in the new novel, The Book of Matthew: a macabre novel of suspense by Thomas White. It falls on San Francisco homicide inspector, Clemson Yao and his intrepid partner, a local Realtor, Angie Strachan to end this spree. Angie isn’t your typical Realtor though. She once attempted to become the city’s first woman homicide inspector, but was kicked off the force when she killed a suspect/perpetrator instead of arresting him. The serial killer being sought is one of the more compelling baddies found in modern novels. He cheerfully calls his victims, “messies”, and spends untold hours researching methods for killing them. This grisly murderer has searched the globe for all the ways of brutal torture that can kill in the slowest way possible, and he selects his victim’s deaths from this research. Disturbing and warped, the book nonetheless is a pretty satisfying novel. I did find that the detailed hallucinatory descriptions of dreams and nightmare sequences got a bit old, and I could have done without most of them. But for originality in a genre filled with twisted bad guys, the author scores a slam-dunk. The dynamic between Yao and Angie was great, and was a solid set up for an entire series featuring them. This is a well-written debut novel and I look forward to seeing more from Thomas White.

[mommymouse_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was totally awesome!! I enjoyed it very much.It follows the tale of Inspector Yao and his sidekick realtor (it makes sense in the story) Angie as they chase a serial killer. The serial killer is Matthew, and he is one of the most devious, ingenious original interesting characters in modern fiction. He kills people in totally disgusting yet completely fascinating ways. His mind set for the whole thing is interesting. He is totally demented and keeps the pace of the book fast.The story is told from Matthew's point of view and the point of view of Yao and Angie.It occasionally bogs down with over details. He gets a little wordy at points while describing background or visual stuff. But overall, very well written and immensity enjoyable. Mr White is one to watch. If he continues at the pace of this book, I see him in the same league as Jeffery Deaver and James Patterson. I sincerely hope he plans to continue Yao and Angie in another novel. I look forward to his next book.