#BookReview ‘Red 1-2-3’ by John Katzenbach

Three women. They have nothing in common. They are different ages, come from different background, and lead drastically different lives. The only thing that binds them together is their red hair–and that each of them has been targeted for murder.

When each ‘Red’ receives a chilling letter in the mail from a killer known only as the Wolf, their lives are upended as they spend every waking moment in the fear that their lives could be snuffed out at any moment. The Wolf is stalking them, biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to complete his master plan. Yet the one thing this cunning and devious killer didn’t plan for is the Reds discovering each other.

The three women, using clues left by the Wolf, manage to band together in the hopes of protecting one another from this deadly predator. With law enforcement turning their backs on the Reds, their only hope for survival is to turn the tables, for the prey to become the predators. In a riveting game of cat-and-mouse, the Reds must track down the Wolf himself–before he silences each of them forever.

This is such a great tale, told from 4 perspectives, as a writer /professor with writer’s block, decides to kick start his imagination by re-telling the tale of Little Red Riding Hood.

Here, he ‘updates’ it by assigning himself as the Big Bad Wolf, and writes to three ‘Little Reds’, three women who have no connection to each other, warning them that they are being hunted and are going to die.

Each of these women is carrying the weight of trauma, and is identified as per the title as red 1, 2 or 3.

They vacillate from fear, to anger and cycle back again as they adapt their lives to knowing that someone is watching them, and knows far too much about their daily routines, but none feels safe to go to the authorities, for reasons which become clear.

Joh Katzenbach neatly twists tropes and idylls as the three women slowly put together just what is happening to them, and whilst the ‘Big Bad’ goes about his stalking and starts to write again, the obliviousness of his superiority complex does not allow for the fact that these women are about to turn the tables and fight back.

Each of them has a vulnerability which they use to their advantage and whilst some might say that it is sexist to assume that 3 women would be needed to take down one man, I would respectfully disagree and say that in my humble opinion, the women are stronger together and help each heal through their trauma by acknowledging it, and once that fear is brought into the daylight, they are able to tackle the situation at hand for all 3’s benefit.

Suspenseful and driven by short chapters which creates a frenetic pace in this kick ass thriller, I raced through this book. John Katzenbach is a terrific writer who excels in suspense thrillers, and this is a perfect read for a winter’s night.

Thank you to publishers Grove Atlantic who kindly granted me permission to read this novel via Netgalley.

‘Red 1-2-3’ is published in the UK by Head Of Zeus.

John Katzenbach is a U.S. author of popular fiction. Son of Nicholas Katzenbach, former United States Attorney General, John worked as a criminal court reporter for the Miami Herald and Miami News, and a featured writer for the Herald’s Tropic magazine. He is married to Madeleine Blais and they live in western Massachusetts.

He left the newspaper grind to write books, racking up more than 12 novels so far, psychological thrillers that have made him an international success.

His first, 1982’s bestselling ‘In The Heat Of The Summer’, became the movie  ‘The Mean Season’ , filmed partially in The Herald’s newsroom and starring Kurt Russell and Mariel Hemingway.