Without Conscience

by Michael Kerr

A sadistic killer has struck twice in the very heart of the capital. The ritual aspects of the brutal slayings, combined with the gruesome behavioural signature involved, leave Detective Chief Superintendent Clive Pearce in no doubt that a pattern murderer has started up on his patch. With no apparent motive or trace evidence, Clive turns to the one man he believes has the ability to track down the killer before the body count rises. Widower Dr Mark Ross is a criminal psychologist; an American now living and working in the UK. Mark had been a profiler with the Behavioural Science Unit of the FBI, but became sickened of putting himself in the minds of human monsters. Cajoled into becoming involved, Mark and his significant other, ex-vice squad cop, Amy Egan, join the team as consultants. Pitted against a cunning psychopath tagged the Park Killer, Mark uses his awesome talent as a ‘mindhunter’ to zero in on his quarry. The killer has an unremitting goal. The victims are exemplars to terrorise a woman who is the prime target that has been stalked for months, and will ultimately be destroyed both psychologically and physically for spurning past advances. Like Mark Ross, the killer is a ruthless hunter. Unlike the psychologist, the perpetrator is a breed apart, obsessed, feeding bloodlust by using extreme violence against others. In trying to bait and lure the Park Killer out into the open, Mark puts himself and Amy in direct confrontation with an adversary who decides to rob them of any future together. They will have to employ all of their combined skills to stand any chance of surviving the onslaught of the obsessed and elusive psychopath.

321 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2020

About the author

I write the type of original, action-packed, violent crime thrillers that I know I would enjoy reading if they were written by such authors as: Lee Child, David Baldacci, Harlan Coben, Michael Connelly and their ilk.
Over twenty years in the Prison Service proved great research into the minds of criminals, and especially into the dark world that serial killers - of who I have met quite a few - frequent.

I live in a cottage a mile from the nearest main road in the Yorkshire Wolds, enjoy photography, the wildlife, and of course creating new characters to place in dilemmas that my mind dreams up.

What makes a good read? Believable protagonists that you care about, set in a story that stirs all of your emotions.

If you like crime fiction, then I believe that 'Deadly Reprisal' and 'A Reacher Kind of Guy - Aftermath' will push all the right buttons for you.

Reviews

[Mary Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed others by this author but this one.... Arrgh! Took me weeks and sometimes just a few pages at a time. Could have been a good book at half the page count.