The Killing Lessons

"Shockingly good writing . . . It's impossible not to be swept away by its propulsive momentum. . . . peer into the depths of . . . many richly developed characters" —The New York Times Book Review
When the two strangers turn up at Rowena Cooper's isolated Colorado farmhouse, she knows instantly that it's the end of everything. For the two haunted and driven men, on the other hand, it's just another stop on a long and bloody journey. And they still have many miles to go, and victims to sacrifice, before their work is done.
For San Francisco homicide detective Valerie Hart, their trail of victims—women abducted, tortured and left with a seemingly random series of objects inside them—has brought her from obsession to the edge of physical and psychological destruction. And she's losing hope of making a breakthrough before that happens.
But the murders at the Cooper farmhouse didn't quite go according to plan. There was a survivor, Rowena's ten-year-old daughter Nell, who now holds the key to the killings. Injured, half-frozen, terrified, Nell has only one place to go. And that place could be even more dangerous than what she's running from.
"Brilliant." —Jeffery Deaver, New York Times–bestselling author of The Skin Collector and Solitude Creek
"Compelling . . . graphic and disturbing." —Associated Press
"The Killing Lessons is state of the art in the ever-darkening serial-killer genre." —The Washington Post
"[An] exceptional police thriller." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Unbelievably good . . . this one has it all." —Lee Child, New York Times–bestselling author of Personal
"A powerhouse of a thriller." —Lisa Gardner, New York Times–bestselling author of Fear Nothing


Genre: Mystery

"Do not read this. No reader deserves to be terrified like this." - Linwood Barclay

"Unbelievably good...this one has it all." - Lee Child

"This novel breaks brilliant. It's hard to tell what's the best part of The Killing Lessons: the sweaty-palm plot that races along like a squadcar on a high-speed pursuit, the breathtaking depictions of the characters, good and bad, or author Black's inimitable style. My vote? All three." - Jeffery Deaver

"Completely mesmerizing! Black delivers a powerhouse of a thriller: two terrifying villains versus one damaged cop with numerous lives in the balance. Not to be missed." - Lisa Gardner

"If you want to ruin a perfectly good weekend with a gut-wrenching, spine-tingling, deeply disturbing, edge-of-the-seat-thrilling crime novel, The Killing Lessons is your ticket. Beware." - Chris Pavone

"The Killing Lessons is the best thriller I've read in years. It's so realistic at times that I had to stop and catch my breath. The relationship between these two killers, and the woman who is trying to capture them, is intense and tangible. This is the first book that I've finished, then turned immediately back to page one so I could experience it all over again. It's mind-blowing, terrifying, visceral, disturbing, and gorgeously written and I've been telling everyone I know that they have to pick up this book!" - Chevy Stevens

"The Killing Lessons is a dark, twisted, and deeply compelling read. Saul Black perfectly inhabits each of his characters, even the most deranged among them, and weaves a breathless thriller that is as beautiful as it is terrifying." - Lisa Unger