Lily Becker, the daughter of crime novelist Jennifer Becker, refers to her mom's work as morbid, which is also an apt description for this film in which the body count builds to an overwhelming level by the end of the ordeal.
There was an effective narrative design in the triangulated relationship of young Lily with her ex-boyfriend Scott Ellison and a mysterious stranger named Mick Grant. Mick rescues Lily from an attacker while she is out jogging. After Lily and Mick begin a relationship, Lilly's ex Scott does some checking on Mick and discovers that the new beau's life is a blank slate.
One of the most interesting characters was Kelly, who was Lily's bestie. It was Kelly who discovers the identity of Mick Grant as "Michael Granger." After piecing together the puzzle, Kelly unfortunately is surprised by Mick and makes a quick exit from the screenplay, along with Scott and the private investigator Ray Peterson, plus the unsuspecting drunk Eric Grissom, who was hired by Mick to attack Lily during her jog. All of these poor souls are murdered by Mick/Michael, who might as well be called Jack the Ripper.
Early in the film, it is revealed that Jennifer Becker had written a bestseller that led to the reopening of a cold case in Seattle. Her investigative work led to the apprehension and conviction of the Crown Hill killer, who later died of lethal injection, suffering for ten minutes in the chair. Now, the son, Michael Granger, has come for payback.
The climactic scene of the film was choreographed in a way that lost credibility with the petite Jennifer grappling with a kitchen knife with her brawny adversary. The film's denouement offered no consolation to Scott and Kelly, who had both made the ultimate sacrifice for their friend.
There was also little comfort in learning that Jennifer Becker was retiring from the profession of the author of true crime stories and was possibly contemplating moving into writing romances. This was a bittersweet ending to an experience that may be summed up in one word: morbid.
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