The Skin Room

The Skin Room is an unnerving suspense thriller narrated by Alex Melville – multi-lingual translator and multiple murderer. The blood-stained document that comprises the narrative of the novel is his claustrophobic, unreliable account of the murder of Valentina, and the incarceration and death of his drug-addicted sister, Sonia. This is no ordinary confession, however. In a unique and distinctive style, Alex gradually reveals his secret: this story has only one reader, the police inspector he holds responsible for his beloved sister’s death, and that while he writes in the flickering candlelight, he has one last grotesque secret to share that is his ultimate revenge. The Skin Room is a ‘whydunnit’ with a twist.

My Review

The concept for this book had me very intrigued. It made me think of the Talented Mr. Ripley. Yet, I will tell you that this book had potential but just fell short of the mark. While, I liked that the main character was flawed, his voice was not as strong as when he was speaking to the Inspector. In those moments, I found the tidbits of information that he was feeding the Inspector to be powerful. I could feel the high intensity levels. The fact that the Inspector was silent through out the whole story added to the level of intensity.

As the story started the main character was sloppy in his killings but as the story progressed, I saw a transformation. Yet, he still had a conscience. Once that kind of left the reader wondering if he would let his victim go or kill them. The ending was the twist. A good twist at that. Overall, this was a good read that did let me escape from the real world for a bit.


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