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Psycho Logic
Psycho Logic is a noir suspense thriller about Johno Beltran, an LAPD detective whose life, marriage and career is devastated when his inadvertent mishandling of evidence leads to a not-guilty verdict for a guilty torture-murderer. Our story begins four years after the trial with Johno now living out of his car and working as a parking attendant at a celebrity haunt.
The man who got away with murder, Dr. Luke Vico, is a wealthy plastic surgeon to the stars. When Dr. Vico isn't slapping his girlfriends around, he likes to abduct college co-eds and slowly bleed them to death. One night, he pulls into the restaurant where Johno works. Their worlds collide again and the eventual outcome isn't pretty.
Alyssa Lido lives down the beach from Dr. Vico. She meets Johno as a result of his ill-fated clash with the infamous killer. The sexual voodoo between Johno and Alyssa is strong, her marriage to a psychiatrist notwithstanding. Alyssa suspects her husband, who once treated her for paranoia, of manipulating some of his more vulnerable patients for sex. When a porn star patient is found dead, Johno is convinced that the shrink killed her to cover up his sex-crimes and worries that Alyssa is next on his hit list. As events spiral out of control, Johno and Alyssa are sucked into a vortex of blackmail, pornography, torture, betrayal, vengeance, love, guilt, passion, murder, muscle cars and valet parking.
The man who got away with murder, Dr. Luke Vico, is a wealthy plastic surgeon to the stars. When Dr. Vico isn't slapping his girlfriends around, he likes to abduct college co-eds and slowly bleed them to death. One night, he pulls into the restaurant where Johno works. Their worlds collide again and the eventual outcome isn't pretty.
Alyssa Lido lives down the beach from Dr. Vico. She meets Johno as a result of his ill-fated clash with the infamous killer. The sexual voodoo between Johno and Alyssa is strong, her marriage to a psychiatrist notwithstanding. Alyssa suspects her husband, who once treated her for paranoia, of manipulating some of his more vulnerable patients for sex. When a porn star patient is found dead, Johno is convinced that the shrink killed her to cover up his sex-crimes and worries that Alyssa is next on his hit list. As events spiral out of control, Johno and Alyssa are sucked into a vortex of blackmail, pornography, torture, betrayal, vengeance, love, guilt, passion, murder, muscle cars and valet parking.
120 pages, ebook
First published May 1, 2014
9 people want to read
About the author
Craig Faustus Buck
27 books19 followersCraig Faustus Buck is an L.A.-based journalist, nonfiction book author, TV writer-producer, screenwriter, short-story writer and novelist.
His first noir mystery novel, Go Down Hard, was published by Brash Books in 2015
His short stories have won a Macavity Award and been nominated for multiple Anthony and Derringer awards.
Among his six nonfiction books, two were #1 NYT bestsellers. He wrote the Oscar-nominated short film Overnight Sensation. He was one of the writers on the seminal miniseries V: The Final Battle.
His first noir mystery novel, Go Down Hard, was published by Brash Books in 2015
His short stories have won a Macavity Award and been nominated for multiple Anthony and Derringer awards.
Among his six nonfiction books, two were #1 NYT bestsellers. He wrote the Oscar-nominated short film Overnight Sensation. He was one of the writers on the seminal miniseries V: The Final Battle.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 20, 2017
Not my cup of tea...
March 31, 2015
This short novel takes the reader on a trip through Los Angeles noir -- a genre Faustus-Buck is no stranger to. Weak men who fall prey to tauntingly beautiful women with hidden agendas, a city portrayed as a character with a fickle personality -- Psycho Logic heaps up big servings of this classic genre. I enjoyed the voice of the main character, Johno Beltrane, a fallen detective who lives in his car. But his car is a classic one, so he doesn't seem to mind! The motivations of the characters are easily understandable, as the author gives them all (even the bumbling cop Dumphy) attention and depth.
The book starts out with a bang, which I loved. My only negative is that I found the ending to be a bit predictable (I would have liked to see a heady twist), but all in all it's a worthwhile read and C.F.B. knows how to pull off good noir.
The book starts out with a bang, which I loved. My only negative is that I found the ending to be a bit predictable (I would have liked to see a heady twist), but all in all it's a worthwhile read and C.F.B. knows how to pull off good noir.
June 10, 2014
Okay, I rated my own book. What am I supposed to do, ignore it? I want it on my shelf and I don't want to water down my ratings by trying to be humble when the fact is, I write what I like to read, so it's right up my alley by definition. Sue me.
December 4, 2014
I wrote it and didn't want to water down my ratings by not rating it, so sue me. :)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews