In Paul Harper's debut Pacific Heights a former military interrogator trained in psychological tactics preys on wealthy women he knows are in psychotherapy. He gains access to their therapist's files then uses their deepest confidences to manipulate them.A psychotherapist, Vera List becomes aware that two of her female patients are having affairs with the same man. This man as described independently by the two women has special powers that enable him to read their private thoughts and desires. Vera becomes convinced her confidential patient files are being compromised when her two patients each report their lover using their secret thoughts cruelly against them. Instead of going to the authorities Vera hires Marten Fane, a private security specialist who she hopes can discreetly save her patients as well as her own reputation. Fane and his colleagues are all former government intelligence officers and quickly find who has accessed her files. The trail leads to Ryan Kroll, the former U.S. military interrogator. Kroll has a reputation for questionable psychological methods that he used to drive enemy prisoners to self destruction. Fane learns that Kroll is using his experimental tactics on these two women only to prove his effectiveness to a potential employer. The damage, both psychological and physical, to this targets is of no consequence to the rogue interrogator. Fane locates Kroll and attempts to deal with him privately and outside the law.
Paul Harper is a pseudonym for David Lindsey previously reviewed on this blog and one of my favorites. Why he has chosen to write under a different name is not clear. His ability to draw you into his complex suspenseful plot and make you crave the next chapter has definitely carried over to his new name. The characters are a bit hard to keep track of as several have more than one name, a necessity in the intelligence business. But since you are compelled to finish the book in one or two settings, keeping track of the characters is made easier. He also ends the book amicably for Marten Fane, the main character so more tales of his highly charged secret life are sure to follow. Bring it on, Paul or David or whoever you wish to call yourself.
