Cheap State of Mind (Book) (JOHN KATZENBACH) Price

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Customer Reviews of State of Mind

The Body count doesn't make sense
Here's what I wrote the author, this will explain why the body count does not make sense.

I am writing about the current book that I am reading, State of Mind. Now something does not quite make sense with the dialogue, or alternatively I have missed something, although I don't think so because I have gone back over the pages I have read a number of times.

I will start with the dialogue that doesn't make sense on page 162 of the Warner Paperback it reads:

"...., how much time between disappearance and discovery ?"

"A month."

"And the other two cases ?"

"A week."

"And twenty-five years ago ?"

"Three days."

Ok, that implies four cases: one took a month to discover the body, two cases a week, and twenty-five years ago, three days. Now let's work backwards, the crime that they suspected Jeffrey Clayton's father of committing twenty-five years ago took three days to discover the body. The other two cases: one was Jeffrey Claytons student who disappeared and the other the other one inside the Western Territory walking home from baby sitting. Ok. What other case of the two other cases ? Also on Page 60 it reads, "That's the current case....Body discovered two weeks later."

I don't understand how many cases are there. By my reckoning there are three:

1. J.P. Mitchell. Body discovered 3 days later.
2. Jeffrey Clayton's student. Body discovered a week later.
3. Girl walking home from baby sitting. Body discovered a month later

Now there's an open case of the girl who stayed back in school to help with the decorations but her body hasn't been found yet. So we have an extra body here that Agent Martin did not divulge to Jeffrey Clayton and Jeffrey Clayton is talking to Agent Martin about ? Huh ?

Then there's the case of where the body in the current case, that's the girl walking home from baby sitting, where the body was discovered two weeks later and that's not even mentioned in the dialogue.

I think you need to go back and revise the book and sort out the cases, the bodies discovered and the it took to discover them because it just doesn't make sense.

Katzenbach delivers again
This is the third Katzenbach book I have read after reading "The Analsyt" and "Shadowman", whilst I consider the former his best work yet, "State of Mind" was not far behind. I read the book inside of 5 days and found myself consistently pulled through the book by the twists and turns the story took. To me the whole 51st state thing wasn't really needed being a non US citizen, as the characters and the plot really hit a chord with the unique situation the children of the suspected murderer find themselves. The whole story I thought was excellent and the ending was extremely clever and unexpected. I would definitely recommend reading this book.