Fred. An ordinary man. Repairs office copiers by day, works on his own inventions by night. Fred. Builds a better electric chair, patents a lethal injection machine, corners the capital punishment market. Fred. Looks for love, finds it in the arms of the Holocaust-denial movement—for better or for worse.

Inspired by the life of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr., subject of the Errol Morris documentary, Mr. Death, Layman’s Report starts with the truth and takes it where only great fiction can.

Eugene Marten is the author of Waste, In the Blind, and Firework. He resides in South Dakota.