"Chilling, beautifully constructed and compelling.... It has the necessary virtue of all mysteries—we can't wait to find out who and why. "—Ambrose Clancy, Editor, The Shelter Island Reporter

A stark, searing opening. The reader, from the first sentence, is in the mind of a murderer who quickly and savagely bludgeons an unknown man to death in a motel room.

No motive is given, except "anger fueled by the thousand disappointments in his life ..." We follow him as he meticulously surveys the crime scene he has created so there will be no trace of him. One observation, tossed off as an afterthought, is he forgets to put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the doorknob—a telling signal to the reader that all might not go as planned.

And within the next few sentences, as he makes his way carefully out of the motel (knowing how to hug walls to avoid surveillance cameras), we learn that this is not just the only murder he's working on. He has ideas for more, to dispatch those he refers to as "adversaries" and "oppressors." And he's a fatalist, knowing "patterns were the means that helped identify serial murderers. Once the police discerned the reason for the killings, they caught the murderers. He would not let them see why until everyone died.

D.J. Laing is the pen name for the Wilmington, DE couple who have produced numerous nonfiction titles in the past. This book is their first collaboration in the mystery genre. They have been producing and hosting a variety of podcasts since 2005.