Mo Hayder

British novelist Hayder writes disturbing and irresistible crime novels, many of which star Detective Inspector Jack Caffrey - a decidedly flawed but totally engaging hero with every bit the literary allure of folks like Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole and Ian Rankin's John Rebus. If you haven't enjoyed Caffrey or Hayden yet, there's no time like the present to jump back to the original title in what is now a seven-book series. Caffrey, new to homicide, must track a murderer whose five victims have been mutilated in a way that - given the fun-but-oft-ridiculous extremes of fictitious serial killers - will cause your brain to curl into a fetal position. Hayder is clever, dark and has a sense of pacing and ratcheted tension that ought to come with cardiac medicine. What's more fun: you get the hint that she enjoys the hell out of torturing readers. Dive in with "Birdman" and here's betting you'll seek out every Caffrey adventure.

- RICK KOSTER