Mathew just told me about his novel THE DEAD SOUL, which is available as a NookBook - check it out!
Overview
"Read the first page of THE DEAD SOUL and you won't stop. … Phelps’s narrative grabs you by the lapels and doesn’t let go." –John Lutz, New York Times bestselling author
In this first novel, serial killer expert, star of Investigation Discovery’s hit series “Dark Minds,” author of 20 books, M. William Phelps takes readers into the twisted world of “the Optimist,” a sadistic serial killer—based on Phelps’s ten years of research and writing about serial killers (five books)—bent on not only terrorizing his young female victims, leaving their naked bodies along Boston’s Freedom Trail, but also driving Detective Jake “Sundance” Cooper to the edge of insanity as the cop fights to redeem his imploding career.
Through an investigation revealing the true madness and evil of this killer, Jake’s mentor, Detective Mo Blackhall, is on the verge of being indicted for his role in a Big Dig corruption scandal, putting Jake at the center of choosing blue blood loyalty over the truth. Strap yourself in and prepare for a thrill ride of suspense, mystery and police procedural drama, with a captivating and honest look at the underbelly of Boston’s mean streets, driven by a cast of characters reminiscent of Denis Lehane’s greatest fiction.
DarkMinds wrote:
A great serial killer novel that actually has some funny moments in it and actually nails the psychology behind the female serial killer is a book called:
Practical Jean, by Trevor Cole. I found it to be quite honest in its interpretation of the female serial killer's mind.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/practical-jean-tre
vor-cole/1100563253
Overview
Jean Vale Horemarsh is content, for the most part, with the small-town life she's built: a semi-successful career as a ceramics artist, a close collection of women friends (aside from that terrible falling-out with Cheryl years ago), a comfortable marriage with a kind if unextraordinary man. But it is only in watching her mother go through the final devastating stages of cancer that Jean realizes her true calling. No one should have to suffer the indignities of aging and illness like her mother did—and she, Jean Horemarsh, will take it upon herself to give each of her friends one final, perfect moment . . . and then, one by one, kill them.
Of course, female friendships are quite complicated things, and Jean is soon to discover that her plan isn't as simple as she initially believed it to be.
Publishers Weekly
In his U.S. debut, Canadian novelist Cole delivers a cagey satirical noir featuring a deranged killer as low-key and matter-of-fact as any of Jim Thompson's introspective monsters. Jean Vale Horemarsh, from the fictional "bedroom community" of Kotemee, is a middle-aged wife and potter/sculptor who, after three months of caring for her dying mother, arrives at the perverse belief that death is the ultimate liberation for those closest to her. After discovering that her husband is having an affair with her friend Louise, Jean moves in with another friend, Natalie. She then sets in motion her "practical" theory of death by giving three of her friends, including Natalie, a "Last Poem." Then, to spare them from old age or a drab life, she slays them all. Wicked humor glints kitchen-knife bright as the unhinged Jean blithely traverses the suburbs dispensing her most intimate friends. An impromptu trip to New York's Finger Lakes region, where she surprises a "long-lost friend," finds the gory mayhem unraveling—and Jean as well; "it all went crappy," we're told. Crime fiction fans who hang on long enough to grasp the slow burn of Jean's muted irrationality, and the spot-on lampoon of modern suburban life, will reap Cole's wonderfully bitter fruits. (Oct.)
Booklist
And, of course!, another Canadian author - all of a sudden, they're everywhere!
