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Detective Mahoney #3
Back Track
It’s 1989. The moon is full. Rock is Gothic.
The exsanguinated remains of a young girl are found in a park in big-city Toronto. Her eyes are circled with blood-red makeup. Her lips are painted black. She’s a duplicate demon doll from the Susie Slaughters—a case gone cold sixteen years ago.
A case that has haunted Detective Mahoney ever since.
Thrust into an investigation festering with ulterior motives, Det. Mahoney must confront the corpse faces of dead girls whispering of his failure to save them.
The moon is waxing toward full. The killer leaves a trail of bloodless bodies tainted with bite marks and animal hair.
Det. Mahoney goes off the rails into his own investigation. Will he catch a human monster before another victim is bled out? Or will the glam night creature descend into hibernation until the next cycle of kills?
The exsanguinated remains of a young girl are found in a park in big-city Toronto. Her eyes are circled with blood-red makeup. Her lips are painted black. She’s a duplicate demon doll from the Susie Slaughters—a case gone cold sixteen years ago.
A case that has haunted Detective Mahoney ever since.
Thrust into an investigation festering with ulterior motives, Det. Mahoney must confront the corpse faces of dead girls whispering of his failure to save them.
The moon is waxing toward full. The killer leaves a trail of bloodless bodies tainted with bite marks and animal hair.
Det. Mahoney goes off the rails into his own investigation. Will he catch a human monster before another victim is bled out? Or will the glam night creature descend into hibernation until the next cycle of kills?
368 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 9, 2022
About the author
Julie Hiner
20 books79 followersJulie Hiner spent her childhood lost in the pages of books. The only thing that took precedence was her Walkman. She is still an 80s rocker.
She has lived her entire life in Calgary, AB. She loves the mountains. Her first writing project was a work of non-fiction about facing fear and anxiety by cycling up famous European mountains. These days, she loves to put on her boots and pack and hike up to a peak.
Julie writes psychological suspense, crime, and horror infused with heavy metal and rock. She has published an 80s/90s serial killer vs detective series, three horror novellas, and co-curated a horror anthology. She has had several short stories published, and her deep-sea horror novella was published by Torrid Waters of Crystal Lake Publishing. Julie collaborates with local musicians to create custom soundtracks for her books. Her latest release is an extreme horror novella titled Stella’s Scream.
You can find her at KillersAndDemons.com serving up a toxic cocktail of metal and murder.
She has lived her entire life in Calgary, AB. She loves the mountains. Her first writing project was a work of non-fiction about facing fear and anxiety by cycling up famous European mountains. These days, she loves to put on her boots and pack and hike up to a peak.
Julie writes psychological suspense, crime, and horror infused with heavy metal and rock. She has published an 80s/90s serial killer vs detective series, three horror novellas, and co-curated a horror anthology. She has had several short stories published, and her deep-sea horror novella was published by Torrid Waters of Crystal Lake Publishing. Julie collaborates with local musicians to create custom soundtracks for her books. Her latest release is an extreme horror novella titled Stella’s Scream.
You can find her at KillersAndDemons.com serving up a toxic cocktail of metal and murder.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 23, 2022
Sex, drugs, and rock n' roll fill the pages along with the detailed investigations we've grown to love in the previous books. Author Julie Hiner has taken the Detective Mahoney series in uncharted territories of metal and killers. The tragic development of Mahoney in the third book is magnetizing and the featured killer has some unexpected surprises.
Well worth the read and great follow up to the previous two books.
Well worth the read and great follow up to the previous two books.
June 3, 2022
Set in 1989, in this third installment of the Detective Mahoney Series, we follow Mahoney through a nervous breakdown that leads him into early retirement. Just as he is trying to get his life back together (in Calgary, Alberta, Canada), a crime across the country in Toronto, Ontario, pulls him back in.
The crime is strikingly similar to a cold case he worked many years ago, the killer never caught, and the victims have haunted Mahoney ever since. Faced with an opportunity to redeem himself for his perceived failure to catch this bad guy the first time around, Mahoney can’t refuse the call to consult on the case.
He becomes obsessed with unravelling the truth. Problem is, his mental health continues to deteriorate, his investigation is being thwarted at every turn from on high, and he's about as good as ever at playing nicely with others. Sutton joins him on the cross-country investigation, only this time Mahoney’s former underling is now his boss, and Mahoney doesn’t have the benefit of his regular team so he has to cobble together a small group of professionals he can trust—luckily he’s able to call in an old friend for some added expertise!
This book is such an engaging read. The characters are all very nuanced and interesting. We also get the Bad Guy’s POV and an in-depth look at his twisted world. Great atmosphere and imagery. As I was on the production team for this book, I admit I may be biased, but I really did love this book and these characters and would (and do) recommend them to anyone who loves the Dark Crime/Horror genres.
Perfect if you love a dark, twisted, serial-killer read with a hearty dose of gothic rock. I also recommend checking out the Hard Rock / Glam Metal band Lÿnx hailing from Calgary while you read for the full effect, and joining Hiner’s KillersAndDemons.com’s mailing list for added access as the rest of the series comes out.
The crime is strikingly similar to a cold case he worked many years ago, the killer never caught, and the victims have haunted Mahoney ever since. Faced with an opportunity to redeem himself for his perceived failure to catch this bad guy the first time around, Mahoney can’t refuse the call to consult on the case.
He becomes obsessed with unravelling the truth. Problem is, his mental health continues to deteriorate, his investigation is being thwarted at every turn from on high, and he's about as good as ever at playing nicely with others. Sutton joins him on the cross-country investigation, only this time Mahoney’s former underling is now his boss, and Mahoney doesn’t have the benefit of his regular team so he has to cobble together a small group of professionals he can trust—luckily he’s able to call in an old friend for some added expertise!
This book is such an engaging read. The characters are all very nuanced and interesting. We also get the Bad Guy’s POV and an in-depth look at his twisted world. Great atmosphere and imagery. As I was on the production team for this book, I admit I may be biased, but I really did love this book and these characters and would (and do) recommend them to anyone who loves the Dark Crime/Horror genres.
Perfect if you love a dark, twisted, serial-killer read with a hearty dose of gothic rock. I also recommend checking out the Hard Rock / Glam Metal band Lÿnx hailing from Calgary while you read for the full effect, and joining Hiner’s KillersAndDemons.com’s mailing list for added access as the rest of the series comes out.
June 5, 2022
So, book three in the series and it’s very, very good. Its a slow burner this one take’s time to build up into a very good dark thriller. Could be the last in the series as well. Some revisiting being done in this one, which keeps Mahoney on his toes. Highly recommended.
October 2, 2024
As always, Julie writes a phenomenal and vivid story! This one had me absolutely sucked in from the start and the thrill carried until it's heart breaking end!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews