Serial Killers – The Real Boogeymen

L.T. Vargus and Tim McBain have created their own standout series in the mystery genre, following FBI profiler Violet Darger on one deadly manhunt after the next. In the third book of the series, titled The Girl in the Sand, she sees herself summoned to Las Vegas following a grizzly discovery, one which puts her in the crosshairs of a legendary serial killer bearing a personal grudge against her.

John Marrs is a name most thriller fans are familiar with, having penned numerous bestsellers which still stand tall to this very day. In The Good Samaritan, one of his better-known works, he tells the story of Laura, a woman who abuses her position as a suicide hotline operator to push people over the edge. However, one man has seen beyond the veil, and is closing in on her sinister nature, unaware that she'll do just about anything to stay in the shadows.

Jo Nesbo made his name overseas with the Harry Hole series, more specifically the ones which take place in Norway, the main character's home country. It took publishers a fairly long time to translate the first novel of the series, The Bat, which uncharacteristically takes us to Australia, where Harry Hole finds himself working as an observer for the police following the murder of a young Norwegian woman.

L.T. Vargus and Tim McBain have made Violet Darger into a bit of a standout in the serial killer genre, and the second book in the Violet Darger FBI Mystery Thriller series, titled Killing Season, pits our heroine against an unprecedentedly efficient and brutal maniac. In a span of two days an individual has murdered fourteen people, and it's up to Violet to slide herself in his head, anticipate his next moves, and put an end to his reign of terror.

Mary Burton has proven herself exceptionally capable at chasing after serial killers, at least where the realm of her novels is concerned. In her new thriller, Don't Look Now, we follow Austin homicide detective Jordan Poe as she hunts for a serial killer who not only attacked her sister two years ago, but recently tried to claim her life as well, leaving her partially blinded, but ever-more determined to track him down.

L.T. Vargus and Tim McBain have a history of co-authorship few thought were possible, and while they've had many popular hits, their most touted work remains Dead End Girl, the first entry in the Violet Darger series. The story follows Violet, at this point a rookie agent, on her first grand assignment, pitting her against a serial killer terrorizing the Midwest.

Brian O'Sullivan has been developing his own unique voice in the vast genre of thrillers and murder mysteries, with his latest effort being The Bay Area Butcher. In it, we once again follow Quint Adler (from Revenge at Sea) as he finds himself pitted against a diabolical enemy in a serial killer who keeps escalating his actions, acting seemingly at random, all while taunting the entire world through his letters.

Elizabeth Hand knows it takes a bit more than the usual these days to stand out from the literary crowd, and in her novel Curious Toys she strives to accomplish this task. Taking us back to 1915, we follow a young fourteen-year-old daughter of a carnival fortune-teller who bands together with an iconic artist to track down and unmask a serial killer nobody seems to know about.

Philip Kerr has created a character almost larger than life with his Bernie Gunther series, and in the posthumously published Metropolis, he goes back in time to explore the man's origins, following his first few weeks on the Berlin Murder Squad. As soon as he steps through the door, he sees a police force in chaos, having to contend not only with political gangs, but also a serial killer who keeps taunting the police with trails of clues leading to nowhere.

C. A. Asbrey has taken us on some captivating tours of the Wild West, presenting it in a different light than the one we're used to. In Innocent Bystander, the third book in The Innocents Mystery series, Abigail's younger sister Madeleine has disappeared after marrying a notorious widower whose wives keep dying one after the other. Knowing the man to be a Bluebeard, Abigail enlists once again the help of Nat and Jake to find her missing sister and unveil the cunning crimes of her husband.

Brian Freeman has given us more thrills and chills than we can count with his various mystery series, most notably introducing the world to Jonathan Stride, a Minnesotan detective with a penchant for the most sordid and complicated cases. He returns to the fore yet again in Alter Ego, becoming embroiled in multiple investigations drawing from the present as well as the past. For starters, a man who seemingly died in a car accident on a remote road outside of Duluth had a false identity and a recently used gun. Second, a college student is reported missing. Third, Stride makes the acquaintance of the Hollywood star who will play him in a movie, one rumoured to have dark secrets.

Today Michael Gruber stands as a respected and well-established award-winning author whose every new book is sought after with fervent anticipation. Every author's journey must start somewhere though, and for Gruber the debut came with his 2003 novel titled Tropic of Night. In it, we follow the Cuban-American detective Jimmy Paz as he becomes embroiled in the investigation of a series of ritualistic killings which have taken Miami by storm. The people are terrified, and as Jimmy inches closer to the truth he gets ever-closer to exposing the heart of darkness pulsating beneath the city.

Robert Ellis has begun a great thing with the Detective Matt Jones series, and you can witness his intellect and deductive powers first-hand as he goes on the hunt to track down the hitman who almost took his life earlier. He soon becomes sidetracked from this dangerously personal task in favor of something much more depressing: catching a serial killer. What's more, this one seems unusually smart and capable, enough to match the grit and wit of the highly-trained and infinitely experienced Matt Jones himself. The three hunters prepare to face each other; the game is on.

Robert Ellis takes us deep into the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles as he presents us with detective Matt Jones who unravels a web of intrigue, blood, deception and corruption starting from the bullet-ridden body of a man shot in what seems like the work of a serial robber. But as we all know looks can be more than deceiving, and in a city where money flows faster than any river the rich and powerful will always find a way to stay in the shadows as their pawns fall one by one. Matt Jones is cut from a different cloth though, and may be the one man to fear for those who deem themselves untouchable.