Enrage the Sky – Book Review
I’ve read another book from this author before so I was really excited to get a review copy of Enrage the Sky. I was also intrigued by the genre-blending story of a killer and the detective who tries to figure them out. This psychological thriller will grip you and seep deep into your flesh.
Please be aware of content warnings going in: This has graphic content reminiscent of Silence of the Lambs and it explores the motivations of a murderer.
Now, let’s dive in!
Our scene is set in September of 1993 with a chilling, but poetic, story of murder. A killer confesses, and then takes us on a journey into their mind. Steele creates a complex, gloomy story in which a determined investigator, a tormented professor, and a cunning killer engage in a struggle of wills that combines violence, sadness, and intelligence.
The story begins with the horrifying discovery of a female college student’s mutilated body on a secluded mountainside. Her partner is nowhere to be found, and the horrific nature of the crime suggests something more sinister than a random act of violence.
When it appears that the inquiry has reached a dead end, the victim’s former English professor gets a terrifying letter written by the alleged murderer. The cipher, a literary and psychological riddle that gives the horror an intellectual undertone makes this book stand out. The murderer wants to be understood – on his own terms – rather than merely apprehended. And we get to follow along for the entire journey!
The murderer threatens to kill another victim if the professor is unable to crack the cipher before late autumn, raising the stakes. An emotionally distant investigator forms an uncomfortable alliance with the professor as a result of this threat. They work together to untangle a convoluted web of hints that stretches across ritualistic obsession, symbolism, and literature. Steele’s writing adds a degree of complexity to the plot that feels both organic and deliberate by neatly alternating between points of view and historical eras.
One of the book’s strongest points is its organization. Through the use of multiple points of view, Steele allows the reader to enter the minds of not only the researcher and the professor but also other people whose roles grow increasingly significant throughout the story.
While preserving narrative tension, these changing viewpoints produce a more expansive emotional and psychological landscape. Despite the gloomy plot, the prose is brilliant – at times beautiful and lofty, at other times raw and brutal.
Steele’s experience as a storyteller is evident in the way he combines the literary with the thrilling. Allusions to classical literature and themes of hubris, mortality, and retribution are never overt; instead, they aid us in comprehending the psychological depths of the narrative.
The cipher component also offers a novel twist, advancing the plot while reaffirming that language, in all its beauty and cruelty, can be used as a weapon.
Particular attention is paid to character development. Tormented by obsession and remorse, the professor is a tragic figure whose spiral into despair is all too familiar. The detective, who is also shattered, lends the story on a more subdued emotional resonance. Since neither guy is whole, their reluctant cooperation turns into one of the novel’s most poignant elements.
Even with its scholarly bent, Enrage the Sky never forgets its origins as a thriller. The suspense is maintained throughout, and the pacing is precise. The novel’s culminating scene is both devastating and satisfying since it weaves together the many threads that have been woven thus far.
Thomas Steele creates a literary maze that entices you with exquisite words and ensnares you with terrifying truths. He skillfully combines the dark and the intellectual. Readers who enjoy dark academics, literary thrillers, and morally challenging mysteries will be both engrossed and, in the best possible way, disturbed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)