Outside the Rules

by Dylan Jones

Locked in Dr. Thomas Meredith's mind are terrible visions - visions of the night when a hooded serial killer tortured and murdered his girlfriend before his eyes but chose to spare him. Meredith wants nothing more than to erase that night from his mind - but it has changed him. He has completely withdrawn from the life he had his successful career as a doctor, his friends and family.
Now Meredith works the night shift at a local diner and passes the days alone in his secluded cabin. He lives in a constant fear of the dark because it could hide his attacker, returning to finish the deed. Each dawn is a triumph, for he has survived the night, and a tragedy, as he lives only to face the darkness once again.
But if Meredith's own mind won't let him alone, neither will the police. For the killer - dubbed "the Carpenter" by the baffled London police and a frenzied press - is still at large, and Meredith's horrifying memories may hold some clues as to his identity. He is their only hope.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Dylan Jones was born in a mining village in the Swansea valley in Wales where he attended primary and secondary schools. In 1974, he was offered a place at Medical school in London and qualified in 1979. Medicine and a family followed, but writing as Dylan Jones, he published 4 novels in the nineties, two of which were filmed by the BBC. In 2011, Random House re-released two of the books in the Natalie Vine series as ebooks. Dylan Jones now writes children's fiction as Rhys A Jones and contemporary urban fantasy as DC farmer. But Natalie Vine refuses to lie down quietly and her battle with her own demons and the monsters of society continues in Dylan Jones' head. The follow up to Unto The Wicked will be called, Boarshollow.

Reviews

[Treeza · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utter rubbish!

[Susan Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you can find this book and you can stand grizzly, drop everything and start on page one. Anyone who thought Silence of the Lambs was a bit lightweight, should go find this book immediately. My friend, Jeanie, got two copies and sent me one. I'd never heard of it or of Jones but knew I had found a new favorite author within the first 20 pages. Tom Meridith was left alive after watching a serial killer torture and kill his girlfriend. His memories and his life have stopped and the killer hasn't. In comes forensic psychiatrist, Natalie Vine to help him recover and remember in hopes of finding this killer. There are scenes in this book that I will never forget. Some research on the author turns up that he is a physician in Wales and has written one novel before this one and one after. I've ordered both and can't wait for them to get here.

[Lakhesis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 *

Libro ameno y fácil de leer. Trata sobre un asesino en serie que mata a sus víctimas de forma brutalmente sádica. Siempre sigue el mismo patrón, mujeres jóvenes y menudas. En todo su haber sólo hay una excepción: un único hombre al que permitió sobrevivir para que contara al mundo la forma en la que mató y torturó a su mujer. La policía se encuentra totalmente perdida y desconoce la manera de darle caza, así que se aferra a lo único que tienen, el superviviente, por lo que envían a una psicóloga a intentar sacarle algún dato relevante sobre el asesino.

La novela nos permite conocer la historia tanto desde el punto de vista de la psicóloga como desde el del asesino.

[Annick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book last August at the flea market in our village. I was looking for books to pass on through a project called 'Boekenjagers' and had two criteria: a good short content on the back and not above €2...
I found a true gem with this one. It'll be a little hard to let it go, but I don't really read books twice... so... ;-)
This book is about a brutal serial killer, who left one of his victims alive. He had hoped that this victim would tell everybody how great he was... but he didn't. And that's not to our killers liking...
A first times 5 stars this year. Not a bad beginning!

[Heather Tiedtke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was very good and had some great twists in it. I didn't rate it higher because I felt the descriptions were far too graphic and the ending was too abrupt.

[Goldie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My god I couldn't put this novel down, an author who is new to me but I'm definetly on the look out for his writing , this story is harrowing horrifying but you cannot put the book down untill you reach the end .highly recommend

[Goldie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real page turner was a difficult read though

[Trisha]

De politie van Bristol is radeloos. In het gebied is een seriemoordenaar actief, een wrede psychopaat genaamd, De Carpenter.
Er zijn in middels 8 lijken van vrouwen gevonden. Allemaal gruwelijk toegetakeld. ER is eenman die de killer ooit heeft gezien. Thomas Meredith leidt echter een teruggetrokken en eenzaa bestaan. Zijn vriendin Jully werd voor zijn ogen beestachtig vermoord en nu wilt Thomas alleen nog vergeten. De bekende psychologe de Nathalie Vine neemt in overleg met de politie contact met Thomas op. Hij moet het verhaal an Jully vertellen en zijn geheugen terug krijgen. Want anders kan de politie de killer nooit opsporen.
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Omdat ik, toen ik het boek las, nog geen beoordelingen en mening gaf over boeken is het voor mij niet mogelijk om nu een juiste waardering aan het boek te geven. Ik hoop in de aankomende jaren tijd te vinden om het boek weer op te pakken om opnieuw te lezen, zodat ik ook dit boek een waardering kan geven.
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Boekinformatie:
Uitgeverij: Areopagus
ISBN: 90.5087.203.4
255 pagina's; Paperback

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Susan Dennis sent me an email a while back telling me she would mail me a copy of this as she had received it from one of her reading pals. I received it one weekend and late Sunday afternoon I was wondering where the weekend went...I could NOT put this down.

It's one of the most disturbing serial killer novels I've read, and from my reading experiences that's saying something. My expectations were high and I try to be cautious about this as it's inevitable to be disappointed, but I almost stood up and applauded when it was over.

Dylan Jones is most certainly on my must-read list now and I'm amazed that this novel had been published five years before I read it without my knowing about it. It deserves every bit of recognition Silence of the Lambs gets.
Incidentally, this once again reaffirms my belief that St Martin's Press is a can't-miss publisher. Every novel I've read published by them has become a favorite of mine!

[Gimena Reche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otro de mis libros favoritos. Lo compré en una librería de saldos a sólo $3 (tres pesos). Seguí mi instinto lector, que me decía que este libro me gustaría mucho, y lo traje a casa. A pesar del título y la portada, el libro tiene un argumento muy entretenido. Si lo consiguen no dejen de comprarlo, se los recomiendo.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Het eerste boek van Dylan Jones dat ik gelezen heb, en dit word zeker niet mijn laatste! Geweldig geschreven boek, realistische personages en een spanning die je blijft vasthouden tot het einde en het liefst nog verder.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Outside the Rules" is a decent entry in the serial killer genre. I felt the author tried a little too hard in attempting to shock me with his over-the-top depictions of some of the murders.

[Bionic Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but very very nasty.