This is a story that starts out looking as though it will be a simple home invasion investigation. But it becomes obvious very quickly that there is more to this home invasion story than meets the eye. A gang of home invaders have been operating around the Liverpool area, entering homes forcefully and terrorising the occupants. The last few attacks have grown increasingly violent until the latest ended in a shocking death. In response the police have put together a special taskforce who will be devoted solely to the case. Jill Jackson is one of the members of the taskforce.

Her gut twisted. She hated meeting new people. After nearly a year away from school following the kidnapping, she’d returned to find she couldn’t speak English anymore. At least it felt that way.

The identities of the members of the gang are revealed to us from the very beginning, this isn’t the type of thriller that asks you to guess the killer’s identity. Instead we are confronted with the details of a man who is known to be unbalanced and although we have a glimpse of what he might be capable of, there is promise of even worse to come.

The leader of the home invasion gang is Henry Nguyen, nicknamed Cutter. He is a disturbed Vietnamese man who is rapidly losing control with a love for the blade and the pleasure he derives from cutting, no matter whether the person who is being cut is himself or someone else.

When he was a kid, Henry Nguyen would manage the feelings by slicing his forearms; carving crosses and snakes into his skin. Only when he’d cut to screaming point would the sexual tension ease. The kids who could watch him called him Cutter. The kids who couldn’t, never spoke to him at all…He’d long moved on from that. Blood was still an aphrodisiac, but now he only started feeling normal again when others screamed.

The taskforce formed to catch Cutter and his team aren’t the only people out to stop Cutter. Joss Preston-Jones was at the home of one of the home invasion targets when a robbery was being carried out and caught a taste of Cutter’s handiwork. Although they were wearing balaclavas, Joss recognised Cutter form his younger days before he dragged his life together. He is ex-army after a tour of Rwanda as a peace-keeper and now believes his family is in grave danger from a return visit from Cutter. He has the capability and the motivation to find Cutter and stop him.

The powerful personalities present throughout the book is a notable feature from the hideous grotesqueness of Cutter to the slow healing process from the psychological scars of Jill Jackson, each character is distinctly original. Which brings me to Gabriel Delahunt, a Federal Police Detective who is partnered with Jill. He is an unusual package of the unexpected and the unexplained, a delightful mixture of quiet competence that can sometimes be overlooked at first glance. His is a character with enormous potential for further exploration.

Voodoo Doll is compelling from the opening word. It is an excellent second novel, another strong psychological thriller that reveals its strength in the exploration of the damaged mind. Whether it be abuse from childhood or trauma stemming from the horrors of war or loss of a loved one, Voodoo Doll covers them all resulting in a power packed story.