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Gillian Parker is the target of a crazed killer who believes that “defects” should not be allowed to live. In his first attack, he merely terrorizes her by breaking into her apartment and rearranging her furniture so that when she returns from her walk to the beach with Garrett her guide dog she is totally confused by the arrangement of her belongings, knowing that someone has been in her apartment.

Rye Bryant is the detective assigned to the case and despite department protocol is immediately attracted to Gillian and asks her out to dinner after only a few days on the case.

Alex, the psychopath was once a gentle loving boy with a kind heart and a love for creatures whether they were disabled or not. His father however, beat that out of him, literally, instilling in him the concept that it is the survival of the fittest and animals with defects must be put down.

The third person point of view moves between Gillian and Alex so we have an awareness of what each is doing throughout the novel. We have the ability to see Alex’ state of mind and how it changed and developed while the characters do not.

We see Gillian and Rye’s characters and romance develop through the novel as they interact with one another and tell each other their life story. It takes a lot for Gillian to be comfortable enough with Rye to discuss her past. I felt that this book was more of a romantic suspense than a psychological thriller.

The twists and turns in the story brought additional mayhem to the residents of the town and almost killed Gillian before Alex wanted her dead. Ultimately, no one can answer the question of why Alex felt so much hatred toward this one particular person (Gillian) over all the other “defects” that he killed.

I liked seeing the change in Gillian’s relationship with her mother from what she described in the past to what it is now that she is an adult. Whether that was a result of Gillian’s perspective or of her mother’s mellowing is left to the imagination.

I also liked that the author has done some research into how blind people handle some of their life skills such as how to label their clothes and locate items at a table setting. The only thing the author missed is that blind or not it is appropriate to use the word look or see even if the blind person is using their hands to do so since the hands are performing the tasks of the eyes.

I very much enjoyed Survival of the Fittest. It is a book that holds your attention and keeps you guessing as to what is going to happen next. I would recommend it to those who enjoy psychological thrillers and romantic suspense. I gave it 4 stars out of 5.

Thank you to the author for providing a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

To see my complete review visit Shelf Full of Books http://kathrynsshelffullofbooks.blogspot.com/2015/09/book-review-survival-of-fittest-by-cl.html