The Wicked Game of a Serial Killer: Hide and Seek

The Wicked Game of a Serial Killer #1

by Stan Hendriks

Lucas Izod is young, brilliant, and obscenely wealthy. He doesn’t grieve. He doesn’t regret. When something precious slips through his fingers, he begins a cold and calculated spree, mutilating and murdering innocent women. Each kill is methodical. Each victim a symbol. The Imperious Killer is born, and Lucas wears the name like a badge of honor.

Ray spent years hunting monsters like Lucas. He knows how they think. But this one moves differently—too precise, too theatrical, too clean. When the daughter of Ray’s closest friend is found brutalized, he returns to the hunt and teams up with Arthur, a high-functioning psychopath whose mind mirrors the killer’s.

Arthur doesn’t feel. He doesn’t flinch. He understands. Ray and Arthur form an alliance that shouldn't work, yet it might be the only way forward. One man driven by purpose. One by logic. Both drawn into Lucas’s deadly design.

He isn’t rehearsing. He’s building his legend. And he won’t stop until the world knows his name—and remembers it in blood.

Genres: Mystery, Ebooks

356 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2024

About the author

Stan Hendriks writes psychological thrillers that live in the spaces between control and chaos.

Based in the Netherlands, he crafts stories where every character is a study in darkness, every plot a descent into the human psyche, and every page demands something from the reader — attention, discomfort, understanding.
His work explores the psychology of evil not as spectacle, but as truth. He writes the stories that linger, that make you question, that refuse to look away.

When he's not writing, you'll find him obsessing over psychology, working out, diving into films and books, or simply thinking — because for Stan, the real work happens in the mind first.

Follow to discover what happens when darkness meets the page.

Reviews

[Antoinette Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG, this book was absolutely incredible! It grabbed my attention from start to finish. Lucas, the killer, is a chilling example of a remorseless psychopath, openly recounting his years of murder after being caught.

Told through multiple POVs, including Lucas and Ray, a former FBI agent turned PI, the story dives into a gripping hunt for justice after a friend’s daughter is killed. No mystery about who the killer is—just an intense, edge-of-your-seat read!

[Sherel Hallford · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointed. Left so many things unfinished/unexplained. I get it that why psychopaths do things doesn’t make sense, but the book itself said they do still at least have a reason which was not explained. And spoiler what in the world sense did it make to bring the offspring in at the very last second? Why was the hammer on the wall in the first place? Why did he identify it as Theresa his fiancé? Was she dead or incapacitated? I think dead. What did he think he was gaining by killing people other than fame, which wasn’t his original reason? I just don’t like having so many questions at the end of a book. I feel like I wasted my time and it wasn’t that great of a plot anyway.

[TexasGirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

seems written by AI

I gave it a real effort, but this book badly written. Its dialogue is stiff and stilted and the characters are one dimensional. I don’t usually quit on books, but after 5 chapters, nothing is getting better.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

Omg sooo good! I just happened to see this book by an unknown author that intrigued me and once I started I could not put it down. From the perspective of a serial killer and the team chasing the killer, the whole story unfolds in front of you and keeps you hooked. I'm downloading the second book right now and I have no idea what it is going to be about but I am excited to find out

[Mallory · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars…I liked the concept a lot. Was it a literary masterpiece? No. It was entertaining and Arthur was my favorite character 🤣 sometimes when reading a story there is one character that you wish just didn’t exist and to me that was Ray’s wife. She drove me crazy. I think there are more Wicked Games books so I will check them out.

[Cindy Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

good premise, poorly written

A retired FBI agent teaming up with a psychopath to catch a psychopath serial killer is a great premise for a story. Unfortunately, the writing, the character development, and the editing were poor. I wouldn’t read it again.

[Janis Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow

All I can say is wow. I learned a lot from this book about the mind of a psychopath. Lucas was a real nut case.

[Holly Still · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 stars

[Susan Schroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably would have given 5 stars, but I listened on audible, and it was narrated by virtual voice. Very annoying.

[Katie Peck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why are the paragraphs so long?????!

[Stacy F Wills · Rating 2 out of 5]

juvenile writing

This reads like a 15 year old wrote it. Or AI. I couldn’t get past the second chapter. The writing is terrible.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

borrowing

I found this a tedious read. I wanted to like and multiple times went to dnf Ian’s would then pick it back up.

[Erik Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting story but it wasn't proof read. It read more like an ARC. Otherwise I would have given a higher rating.