The Murder Artist: A Thriller

by John Case

Book Overview

The bestselling author of The Genesis Code and The Eighth Day now strikes his most harrowing chord, with a chilling novel that pushes suspense to nearly inhuman limits.

As a television news correspondent, Alex Callahan has traveled to some of the most dangerous corners of the globe, covering famine, plague, and war. He's seen more than his share of blood and death, and knows what it means to be afraid. But what he's never known...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345464729
• ISBN13: 9780345464729
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Fawcett Books
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

WONDERFUL thriller

I loved it! If you like Thomas Harris you will probably like this book, though it's not as gory (but definitely has its James Ellroy moments). It's super smart with nonstop action. Had me from word one to the last word. Now I'm looking for everything he ever wrote.

A first-rate thriller

In this masterful thriller by John Case (a husband and wife team), reporter Alex Callahan loses his energetic twin sons at a Renaissance fair in Maryland: one moment they are petting a whippet with a Shakespearean ruff around his neck, and the next they have vanished. The police have few leads, and the lead investigator is reassigned to a homeland security force. Alex, who cannot accept that he'll never see his beloved sons again, sets out on a trail that leads to a series of revelations, each one more chilling than the last. Helped along the way by advice from police detectives, private investigators, lawyers, and his own gut instincts, Alex fights his way toward the truth. The plot assembles the history of magic, voodoo practice, and the gruesome tastes of a psychopath into a non-stop thriller that will have most readers willingly accepting their bloodshot eyes as they read late into the night. Remarkably, in all this fast-paced rush of a story, the authors never skimp on characterization and detail. From Alex's estranged wife Liz to the albino private investigator in New Orleans to the grocery clerk who gives Alex his final break, the characters are memorable and well-drawn; many, such as the one-lipped voodoo "houngan", are unforgettable. The settings are equally skillful, with the seedy underside of Las Vegas glitz contrasting with the more down-home grime of the swamps outside New Orleans. Even the Renaissance Faire, where the twins vanish, is brought to life with such convincing detail that it remains vivid even 400 pages later. The abrupt ending might leave some readers dissatisfied, but it thankfully skirts the maudlin. Readers of thrillers should not pass up this breathlessly suspenseful novel. Well-written, intelligent, and fast-paced, The Murder Artist deserves a spot among the best of the genre.

A Thriller In Every Sense of the Word

John Case doesn't do series characters, so each book presents you with a new hero to learn about. In this case it's one with whom we can all identify, that of a parent with a missing child, or in this case two as the children are twins. Then comes the dreaded phone call, a chilling silence, slow, steady breathing, and the familiar, plaintive voice of a child -- "Daddy?" Put that down if you can. After that, it's a thriller. And those familiar with John Case know that he does scary thrillers. There's no supernatural aspect, but the 'ordinary' people that John Case creates are scary enough in their own right. Gee Im glad that my daughter is grown up.

First Rate Chills and Suspense...I Couldn't Put it Down!

Workaholic Washington DC based Alex Callahan has been-there, done-that in most of the major trouble spots of the world. Obsessed by the demands of his high-pressure career as an investigative TV journalist, he's relegated his wife Liz and six-year-old twin sons, Sean and Kevin, to a distant second place on his priority scale until Liz decides that she's no longer willing to accept whatever crumbs of time and affection he has to offer. Taking the children with her, she accepts a job at a museum in Portland, Maine, and leaves Alex to discover just how empty and meaningless his life becomes without them. Desperate to make amends, Alex is willing to agree to anything she proposes that might help mend the rift: specifically, a month's trial visit from Sean and Kevin and full-time, single parenthood 24/7. One of the first lessons he has to learn is that you don't break a promise to your kids. When the boys set their hearts on attending a Renaissance Faire being held in nearby Maryland, Alex quickly agrees and then, reluctantly, is forced to stick to his word. Caught up in the spirit of the Faire, he bows to their pleading and lets the boys head for the jousting ring which takes them briefly out of his sight. In that tiny instant...they disappear, and Alex, for the first time, realizes the full weight of what it means to be a parent. Concern turns to fear turns to increasing terror as his frantic personal search becomes a police dragnet which still yields no sign of his boys. Then his cellular rings...a trembling voice from his home phone cries "Daddy"...and after it's abruptly silenced, the full horror of the situation crashes down on him. Now he and Liz become enmeshed in the media circus he knows so well from the other side of the camera, but, as time goes by with no demand for ransom or other contact, the officials reluctantly back-burner their search and Alex is left to go it alone. Now 24/7 takes on a different meaning for him. Using his job-honed research skills, he starts with a tiny clue left behind in his home for whatever reason by the kidnapper and hits the Internet for answers. A nebulous pattern begins to emerge which necessitates an increasingly far-ranging personal search that takes him from the neon wilderness of Las Vegas to the back country and swamps of Louisiana to the decadence of Northern California. When he finally understands WHY they were taken...HOW to find and rescue his boys becomes his and the reader's imperative. That's the point where this breathtakingly superb thriller quite literally becomes un-put-downable. In his previous novels, John Case has primarily focused his attention on global issues, so this highly-personalized, domestic thriller is a stunning change of pace for him, highlighted and intensified by his use of a first-person narrator. Roughly the first hundred pages of the book explore the mindset of an abductee's parents in some depth and establish Alex as a completely sympathetic and wholly b

one of the best thrillers of the year

International TV news correspondent, Alex Callahan covers all the hot spots around the world becoming immune to cruelty, abuse, and death. His biggest fear is not getting killed, but that his twin six year old sons will not know him as he struggles to see them periodically. That is why Alex enjoys his time with them as they wander a Virginia medieval fair. However, the quality time together ends when he receives the phone call with the voice of a frightened tentative child crying out "Daddy." The police investigation goes nowhere so Alex employs his investigative reporter skills in cesspools to make inquiries. He finds a pattern that a voodoo crazed individual dubbed The Piper has been abducting and killing twins for years as part of a quest to fulfill a dark dream. Alex's only hope is to find a voodoo master hidden away in the backwaters of Bayou country. If he locates the master, Alex will pay a price to obtain help; the cost is being buried alive for a night by someone who might prove to be THE MURDER ARTIST or perhaps the twins' killer. This is an exciting thriller that grips readers from the moment Alex receives the devastating phone call. The story line never slows down as a desperate Alex, filled with guilt even before the abduction, is just about over the edge with a frantic need for penitence by saving his children and stopping the monstrous Piper. Fans will be stunned by the level of tension that grows to an unbelievable crescendo in what is going to be recognized as one of the best thrillers of the year. Harriet Klausner