Fatal Charade

“Serial murder is not a new phenomenon.  It probably began with the most primitive of societies thousands of years ago.”

“[Serial killers] are not psychologically complete human beings, even though they can mimic and play roles.”

— Helen Morrison, M.D., My Life Among the Serial Killers

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” is meant as a warning.  But to Will Sinclair, learning from the past and repeating it is a goal.  He is not like everyone else, and he knows it.  From the first time he read about the “fatal charades” of ancient Rome ─ public executions staged as mythological plays ─ it has been his life’s obsession.

In his brilliant, twisted mind, he has created his own version ─ a neoclassic.  Instead of a mythological play ─ a scene from a favorite movie.  Instead of an execution ─ a murder.  And to relive the experience over and over ─ a video recording.  Reality TV to the extreme.

Killing was not a moral issue for Caligula or Nero then ─ or Sinclair today.  Others are just objects in his insane fantasies.  If people once got away with murder, why not now?

So his quest to unleash his deadly desires and pay homage to the past begins…

After being carefully selected, victim after victim assumes their role.  Then he meets Annie Boden.  He senses her vulnerability, her insignificance ─ and an incredible opportunity.  Already emotionally and physically abused, she is damaged goods:  worn, weak, worthless.  And tempting… 

But there’s a problem.  She has a connection to him.  Her disappearance could bring two Chicago detectives right to his door.  If Will Sinclair chooses to cast Annie Boden in one of his “fatal charades”, will she accept the role and play her part?  Experience the horror of someone else’s sadistic psychosis?  Will she die as she has lived…unseen, unheard? Or are there lessons in history Will Sinclair hasn’t yet learned? 

In Fatal Charade, Lee Moylan’s second novel, the author uses her scientific and forensic knowledge to create a frighteningly believable account that explores the depths of a deranged mind.