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BOOKS BY RICHARD MONTANARI
 DEVIANT WAY
Pocket Books
Paperback
336 pages
ISBN: 0671511092
(1995)
• Critical Praise
Something has come over Andrea Heller.
After seven years of marriage to her voyeur husband, Matt, it seems she has a few ideas of her own. Like calling herself Abigail. And dressing a little sexier. And sitting on the other side of the bar, pretending to be single. And watching what happens.
But there's another couple watching, too. They call themselves Saila and Pharaoh, but only after sundown.
And it is after sundown that some terrible things are happening in the singles clubs in Cleveland. In six months, three women in their twenties have been found brutally murdered -- their flower tattoos ceremoniously removed.
And each step that homicide detective John Paris takes to bring the madness to an end takes him closer to the heart of his own forbidden impulses, and nearer the understanding that no one -- not the man standing next to him at the precinct, nor the woman in his bed -- is who he or she appears to be.
When Paris ultimately discovers the terrifying secrets of The Swing Set, and the stakes become personal, he comes to know one certainty: to enter the minds of Saila and Pharaoh is to enter a world from which no one ever fully returns.
DEVIANT WAY probes the primal fantasies that live within us all, and pushes the boundaries of modern sexual etiquette to a fiery new limit. Richard Montanari boldly invades Thomas Harris' territory, creating a RED DRAGON-like atmosphere of unrelenting sexual tension, murder, perversity and an evil that grabs and won't let go.
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 THE VIOLET HOUR
Avon Books
Paperback
320 pages
ISBN: 0380795329
(1998)
• Critical Praise
A Time of Remembrance. A Time of Reckoning.
A popular priest lies dead of a heroin overdose in a Cleveland apartment, following an apparent tryst with a high-priced call girl. Nicholas Stella knew the man, and he knows saleable news when he finds it.
But there is something waiting for the struggling freelance journalist on the dead cleric's e-mail that suggests that this is not just another sordid case of fatal human frailty.
A clue, a warning, a threat in the words of a great poet cries out that this was no accident.
And it's beckoning Nick Stella into the dark, twisted and terrifying mind of a psychopath.
In an affluent Ohio suburb a world away, Amelia Saintsbury's computer screen carries the same cryptic message. Someone is watching her . . . and waiting.
A nightmare stands just outside her door, ready to devour everything and everyone she cares about -- her life, her home, her innocent little girl -- uniting Amelia and an unorthodox city reporter in a desperate hunt for a killer.
A novel of unrelenting suspense and surprise, Richard Montanari's THE VIOLET HOUR is a masterful work by an exceptional talent; a riveting tale of secrets, serial terror and ingenious revenge that moves at breakneck speed with a chilling and powerful grace.
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 KISS OF EVIL
HarperTorch
Paperback
368 pages
ISBN: 0380795345
(2001)
• Critical Praise
Detective Michael Ryan died in a posh hotel two years ago, murdered with his own weapon. A stunning fashion model was accused of the crime, then cleared -- leaving a good cop's name forever tainted by these damning words: corruption, greed, and betrayal.
Since that time homicide detective John Paris has worked long and hard to salvage his good friend Mike Ryan's reputation, but with no success. Now the beautiful suspect who walked away has perished in a fiery suicide. The circle is closed.
But the rash of brutal slayings that is rocking Paris's city suggest otherwise. The plague of terror and ritual sacrifice is savage enough to shatter even the most street-hardened cop's faith in justice and a rational world. Each murder is different, yet equally horrific. The street hustler, the suburban career woman, the dealer in religious artifacts -- the only evidence connecting these victims is a strange symbol carved into their flesh.
And, perhaps, one name: Michael Ryan.
The truth Detective Paris's investigation uncovers is that these murders are the grim handiwork of one maniac, a merciless, vengeful killer wired into the soul of something ancient and terrible, brilliantly coaxing Paris's personal demons out of hiding and cunningly leading Paris to the edge of the abyss ... and over.
As Paris is pulled into a place of shadows and sexual deviance, he finds himself right where the murderer wants him: broken and desperate, with the barrel of his gun pointing at his temple and the whole world watching.
But there is one last hope for Detective John Paris, one profound and frightening secret he must ultimately come to discover about himself -- sometimes, in order to catch a monster, one must be willing to summon the monster within. . . .
With his two previous novels, DEVIANT WAY and THE VIOLET HOUR author Richard Montanari established himself as a contender for the heavyweight crown in suspense fiction. With KISS OF EVIL his most relentlessly chilling, stunningly crafted, and superbly skilled work to date, he has earned his way into the ranks of Thomas Harris, John Sandford, Jeffery Deaver, and the other champions of the thriller genre.
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 THE ROSARY GIRLS
Ballantine Books
Hardcover
400 pages
ISBN: 0345470966
(2005)
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• About the Book
• Critical Praise
Richard Montanari has written an astounding novel that pits two besieged detectives against a fiercely intelligent serial killer. Relentlessly paced and vividly told, THE ROSARY GIRLS is a smart, emotionally complex, fiercely gripping thriller from an author who takes chances, breaks new ground, and leaves readers haunted and moved long after the last page is turned.
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 THE SKIN GODS
Ballantine Books
Hardcover
March 14, 2006
ISBN: 0345470974
• About the Book
• Critical Praise
With the breakneck pacing and intricate plotting of his most recent novel, THE ROSARY GIRLS, Richard Montanari established himself as one of the most exciting suspense writers working today. Now he proves himself a virtuoso with THE SKIN GODS, an explosive new thriller featuring Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano.
It is the steaming heart of summer in the City of Brotherly Love. Back on the force after taking a bullet during the arrest of a sadistic murderer, Detective Kevin Byrne warily returns to police headquarters. He cannot shake the memory of the Rosary Killer's innocent victims --- or his growing sense that the evil has not been vanquished. And when he and his partner, Detective Jessica Balzano, are called in on a bizarre case, Byrne's gravest suspicions are confirmed.
A madman, dubbed The Actor by the homicide unit, is meticulously re-creating Hollywood's most famous --- and most gruesome --- death scenes. The first murder is caught on film, spliced into a rented VHS edition of the Hitchcock black-and-white masterpiece Psycho. But in place of Janet Leigh is a real-life woman, and this time, the blood is red and the knife is real. Soon, more thrilling classics are turned into terrifying snuff films and placed on video store shelves for an unsuspecting public to find.
The key to this horrific puzzle could lie with any of THE SKIN GODS' supporting cast: the A-list Hollywood director, the ruthless executive assistant, the convicted mass murderer --- or perhaps someone else who has made a sinister art of gruesome violence.
Hot on the psychopath's trail, Balzano and Byrne descend into the mouth of madness and beyond, deep into the depraved underworld of S&M clubs and the porn industry, where the worship of flesh leads to malevolent evil. Before the final credits roll, the investigators will discover that none of The Actor's victims are as innocent as they appear to be, and that the clue the police need to prevent future murders might be found in Detective Byrne's own dark past.
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© Copyright 2008 by Richard Montanari. Reprinted with permission by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc.. All rights reserved.
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