It begins with what seems like a particlarly malignant case of envy. Alben Opfer, a gifted, self-motivated eighteen-year-old comes to Los Angeles with big plans: enrollment at an elite private school, followed by admission to an equally prestigious college, and, finally, a career in Hollywood. All that ends when his body is found on a university campus, shot to death, and in a bizarre display of cruel triumph, stabbed post-mortem.
Suspicions falls on Alben’s estranged half brother, whose troubled past stands in stark contrast to Alben’s promising future. Then another victim is murdered in the same distinctive way. And another. And another.
Maddeningly, there seems to be no link among the victims. Males and females, they span a wide age range and come from different worlds. Yet someone has doomed them to dying horribly.
Alex and Milo find themselves peeling back layers of L.A. life, traveling in and out of the shadows, as they hunt for a psychopath who operates out of pure malice.
Author
Jonathan Kellerman
Jonathan Kellerman has lived in two worlds: clinical psychologist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty crime novels. His unique perspective on human behavior has led to the creation of the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher’s Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives, and The Murderer’s Daughter. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored Coyote Hills, The Lost Coast, The Burning, Half Moon Bay, A Measure of Darkness, Crime Scene, The Golem of Hollywood, and The Golem of Paris. He is also the author of two children’s books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association, and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. Jonathan and Faye Kellerman live in California.
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