A psychic female psychologist isn't a character normally found in crime fiction, writes Sam Pope.

Yet Joseph Glass, a pseudonymn for a New York Times bestselling author, has written his second book featuring heroine Dr Susan Shader, a forensic psychologist who helps Chicago police to find serial killers through her paranormal powers.

The story begins with Dr Shader's evaluation of the sanity of accused murderer Calvin Wesley Train, helping to send him to Death Row. She soon becomes entangled with 'the Undertaker', a serial killer terrorising single women in Chicago who have had or are about to have an abortion.

From the beginning, she starts picking up psychic clues. Soon, however, her thoughts are forced back to Calvin Train, whose sudden disappearance puts her life, and her son's, in great danger.

Glass's writing has been compared to that of Thomas Harris, and certainly this can be seen in the psychological significance given to the killer's rationale.

To compare Susan Shader to Patricia Cornwell's Dr Scarpetta is, however, a mistake. Agreed, the two are physically similar - fair-haired, petite (Susan is amazingly described as "a size 4 or 6, or in juniors a 5 or 7'') and neither has a very strong appetite, but the reader feels that Dr Shader is much more vulnerable than her pathologist counterpart.

I found myself wishing that her heroines would sustain themselves on a bit more than a salad or a sandwich, and would either produce their guns with professionalism or admit to their dislike of weapons with good humour, as does Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum.

On a more positive note, Glass does portray all his female characters well, with sympathy and with genuine understanding, to the point where I wondered if 'he' really was a 'she'.

The storyline is gripping but at times can seem horrifically ghoulish for the more squeamish of readers. Admittedly novels about serial killers are never going to be pleasant, but the details really do make your skin creep.

Blood is recommended if you want a page-turning read, but be warned.