THE INQUISITOR

Author: Mark Allen Smith

Genre: Thriller, Geiger Series #1 (?)

Published: 2012

Personal Rating:  4.25/5 (very good +)

Format: Book

Yearly Count:  40

From Amazon:

A spectacularly original thriller about a professional torturer who has a strict code, a mysterious past, and a dangerous conviction that he can save the life of an innocent child.

Geiger has a gift: he knows a lie the instant he hears it. And in his business—called "information retrieval" by its practitioners—that gift is invaluable, because truth is the hottest thing on the market.

Geiger's clients count on him to extract the truth from even the most reluctant subjects. Unlike most of his competitors, Geiger rarely sheds blood, but he does use a variety of techniques—some physical, many psychological—to push his subjects to a point where pain takes a backseat to fear. Because only then will they finally stop lying.

One of Geiger's rules is that he never works with children. So when his partner, former journalist Harry Boddicker, unwittingly brings in a client who demands that Geiger interrogate a twelve-year-old boy, Geiger responds instinctively. He rescues the boy from his captor, removes him to the safety of his New York City loft, and promises to protect him from further harm. But if Geiger and Harry cannot quickly discover why the client is so desperate to learn the boy's secret, they themselves will become the victims of an utterly ruthless adversary.

I've had this on my must-read ARCs shelf for a very long time, and I'm happy that I actually read it during the month that it came out!  And, to top it off, I really enjoyed it!  Yay!

First off, it is not for the squeamish.  It contains a lot of violence and can be difficult to read.  I didn't like those parts, but I loved the suspense they created.  I, also, found Geiger to be an odd sorta fella, but I liked that, too.  What I didn't care for was how he was portrayed at times.  Showing his awkwardness was plenty, the added descriptions annoyed me.  Also, the climax was a little run-of-the-mill or James Patterson-esque.  Not exactly what I prefer, but the suspense kept me intrigued and glued to the book.  I read at least half of it in one sitting, then I was snatched back to reality (why can't I read all day?).  I will absolutely be looking for the next book by Mark Allen Smith, and hopefully, it'll be another thriller with Geiger. 

My thanks go to Henry Holt & Company and LibraryThing for sending me the ARC.


Here's an audiobook clip from Macmillan Audio for your listening pleasure: