The Naturalist started off exceptionally well. Dr. Theo Cray is returning to his hotel room only to discover a swat team a swat storming the hotel. He takes cover, but when told to return to his room, he remains watching the scene.

Because he can't return to his room--it is his room being stormed.

It turns out that a former student of his has been doing research in the area and has been found dead. Theo is taken in for questioning, but is released when it is determined that the young woman died from a bear attack.

His curiosity and a sense of guilt cause Theo to do a little more investigation and what he discovers makes him believe that a man has disguised not only this murder, but many more murders; some were listed as animal attacks, but many were never reported at all. As Theo uses his computer to investigate missing persons in the area, he begins to locate bodies.

I really enjoyed the first portion, but the novel became a combination of too far-fetched and too clever and lost its initial focus. Talk about character transformation--Theo Cray started off as an intriguingly nerdy character, but ended up as a standard action hero.

NetGalley/Thomas & Mercer

Crime/Suspense. Oct. 1, 2017. Print length: 382 pages.

Definitely the most addictive read of my year so far, borne out by the fact that I started this last night then finished it this morning - no messing. I literally only put it down to sleep.

For a start how wonderful to find something a bit different - I can't say I've read a book before where the main protagonist is a Computational Biologist - the author makes this sound entirely fascinating and if you have a love of finding out small random facts like I am you'll love the little titbits you find throughout this novel. Not sure that Theo, our scientist, ever expected to use his expertise to track a serial killer nobody else will admit exists, but that is the situation he finds himself in after the death of a former student pulls him into an entirely different world.

The Naturalist is a genuinely thrilling "serial killer thriller" with a scientific twist - the story fairly rocks along as Theo goes a bit lone wolf, albeit a rather less testosterone fueled one than you would normally find in this type of story, using his background and science geekery to seek out patterns and probabilities. That side of it is cleverly engaging, there is plenty of action besides and a hidden killer who will chill your soul. There are some intensely creepy moments in The Naturalist that made me jump at shadows a little and a real sense of menace all the way through. The ending is edge of the seat madness in the best way, a real blow out finale that rocked. From first page to last this was all the excellent, not a single boring moment. Brilliant.

I see this listed as a book one - I have to say I'm extraordinarily pleased by the thought that Theo will be back. I loved him as an anchor to the rest of this tale, in fact all the characters within were brilliantly drawn and absolutely compelling, I hope to meet a few more of them again too.

The Naturalist has excellent plotting, offers up a different perspective within the crime drama and who knows - perhaps Computational Biologists are the new Profilers - we'll see but on the basis of this book those writing within the crime genre might want to up their game. Seems there are ways to teach an old pony new tricks after all.

Highly Recommended.

Theo Cray is no detective, but he may be the best chance police have to solve a series of gruesome homicides. Cray is a computational biologist, but he gets involved with the criminal investigation when he comes across a former student who’s been murdered in Montana. As the bodies pile up, Theo is able to see a pattern police have missed, but far from believing him, police start to suspect that Cray himself is the killer. I really enjoyed this book, and admit it was a refreshing change from Mayne’s Jessica Blackwood series, which had a tendency to bog down in details about magic. This story was refreshingly unique and well told