The novel begins with a single scream that rips across Fifth Avenue from Central Park and into the bedroom and the psyche of Tasha Fontaine, proprietor of a tony fashion boutique. In the park, the police find a serial killer's latest Christine Whittendorf, a woman whom Tasha had met briefly, and who bore a striking resemblance to her. To Detective Bernard Behrens, Tasha is much more than a witness for Case #H9073; she represents his only hope of nailing a butcher who has already claimed a dozen victims. Tasha herself seeks the killer to allay her own terrifying fascination with the dead woman.
Author has published other books under the names: Adam Hall, Mansell Black, Trevor Burgess, Trevor Dudley-Smith, Roger Fitzalan, Howard North, Simon Rattray, Warwick Scott, Caesar Smith, Lesley Stone.
Author Trevor Dudley-Smith was born in Kent, England on February 17, 1920. He attended Yardley Court Preparatory School and Sevenoaks School. During World War II, he served in the Royal Air Force as a flight engineer. After the war, he started writing full-time. He lived in Spain and France before moving to the United States and settling in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1946 he used the pseudonym Elleston Trevor for a non-mystery book, and later made it his legal name. He also wrote under the pseudonyms of Adam Hall, Simon Rattray, Mansell Black, Trevor Burgess, Roger Fitzalan, Howard North, Warwick Scott, Caesar Smith, and Lesley Stone. Even though he wrote thrillers, mysteries, plays, juvenile novels, and short stories, his best-known works are The Flight of the Phoenix written as Elleston Trevor and the series about British secret agent Quiller written as Adam Hall. In 1965, he received the Edgar Allan Poe Award by Mystery Writers of America and the French Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for The Quiller Memorandum. This book was made into a 1967 movie starring George Segal and Alec Guinness. He died of cancer on July 21, 1995.
I haven't read a book in a while that actually made me a bit frightened. It's a story of obsession and murder that will have you spooked and interested page after page.