The Paperbackers

Is a serial killer back from the dead? Can there be some romance after some hostile phonecalls? A look at brisk sellers and quick reads

A 14-year-old boy,Billy Lucas,has just committed the most heinous of murders. One night,Billy kills his entire family and then invites the police to come get him,come see how Ive pranked them. Its a beautiful thing, he says in Dean Koontzs What The Night Knows HarperCollins,Rs 299.

Billy is placed in a psychiatric ward,and this is where detective John Calvino first meets him. Calvino hasnt been assigned the case,but is drawn to Billy because of a secret from his own past. Twenty years ago,a serial murderer named Alton Turner Blackwood went on a killing spree,culminating in the slaughter of Calvinos own family. A 14-year-old Calvino returned home just in time to kill Blackwood while he was enacting his post-murder ritual.

Billys killings seem to mirror Blackwoods from the method to the telephoned invitation to 911. Go see what Ive done. Its a beautiful thing, Blackwood says then.

Even in their first meeting,Calvino senses a spectral presence in Billy. I introduced myself as detective Calvino but he kept calling me Johnny, he tells an orderly later. Something that Blackwood said all those years ago has convinced Calvino that the killer is back from the dead and is now looking for hosts or people through whom he can reenact his murders. He also believes that his family is the next target and that he may not be able to stop it.

There are moments when Koontz leaves you genuinely spooked.

Twelve Days of Christmas by Trisha Ashely Harper Collins,Rs 299 seems eleven days too long. The blurb may expect you to fall in love with this story as you snuggle under your duvet with a glass of mulled wine in hand and Christmas jingles in the iPod. Instead,Ashley,author of a dozen novels,leaves you with an empty stocking hanging forlornly from the fireplace. The only sparkle comes from the glitter stuck to the books jacket and not what lies between the covers.

Holly Brown,a young widow,who sees herself as oversized,ugly and capable,shuns Christmas. Brought up as a Strange Baptist by her grandmother,she did not celebrate it as a child. After losing her husband to a freak accident during the festive season,she prefers to observe the holiday on her own and away from prying eyes. As a professional house-sitter,she is assigned a sprawling mansion belonging to a certain Jude Martland in Lancashire moors during Christmas holidays.

Much of the book deals with Hollys routine at the mansion looking after an arthritic dog and an ageing horse,and general sprucing and cooking. Her culinary exploits with salmon,mince pies,Christmas cake and sausage rolls are entertaining in bits and tiring later.

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Hollys initial impressions of the owner Jude draw from a series of hostile phone conversations. But then we must spar before we fall in love is a universal trope.

The most interesting part of the book deals with Hollys grandmothers story of thwarted love and a lifetime of reconciliation. Unfortunately,the grandmothers diary entries only provide the opening paragraphs of each long-drawn chapter. Readers will find themselves cheering for the grandma,while waiting for Holly to just get on with it.