Deadly Virtues

Stephanie Burton is dripping in degrees-both academic and professional. And, she's drop-dead gorgeous. Hers is a voice that pierces the din and circus antics of cable news broadcasting; she conveys genuine compassion and civility to her growing audience, compelling viewers to reach higher, behave more nobly. Eventually, she's hailed as "America's Moral Compass." But something evil lurks behind Stephanie's attractive and charismatic persona. Privately, she contends with emotional scars as sordid as any of the sensationalized stories the networks feast upon. In her deep-seated hatred for men, she carries out a plan to make them pay. When thirty-four-year-old Prize Calloway's dead body is discovered in his Grandview, Missouri, apartment, officials begin to look for connections. Soon, Andie Morrison, a data analyst with the Kansas City Police Department ties Calloway's death to two other brutal sex killings and a motivational speaking tour. The investigation heads down one blind alley after another as the public fixates on every detail, with one virtuous voice at the center.

Mitch Engel’s novels interweave satirical perspectives on contemporary lifestyle themes with more timeless human values. After heading one of the nation’s largest advertising agencies at thirty-seven, and later accepting a senior executive role with a Fortune 500 company, Engel now writes full time and resides in Lake Forest, Illinois.