The Rosary Girls » (Reprint)

RICHARD MONTANARI is a novelist, screenwriter, and essayist. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and scores of other national and regional publications. He is the OLMA-winning author of the internationally acclaimed thrillers Kiss of Evil, Deviant Way, and The Violet Hour–all published in more than twenty countries. Visit the author’s website at www.richardmontanari.com.

A devious serial killer lays siege to the city of Philadelphia, brutally sacrificing pretty young Catholic girls on the altar of insanity. As the body count rises, an exceptional investigating partnership struggles to stop him. Detective Jessica Balzano, Philly's Homicide Unit's newest rookie, is teamed up with the veteran cop Kevin Byrne, respected for his solve rate and known for his unorthodox methods. The pair, willing to do anything it takes to stop the bloody rampage, leads a chase for a twisted, demonical killer fueled by a sacrilegious fury.

Publishers Weekly

A specialist in serial killer tales (Kiss of Evil, etc.) offers the gory first in a projected series. A religious nut is preying on Catholic schoolgirls, picking them off with impunity while Philadelphia detective Kevin Byrne and his new partner, Jessica Balzano, wring their hands and wrack their brains. The victims are found with their necks broken, their hands bolted together in prayer and their vaginas sewn shut. Byrne has a problematic past and a Vicodin habit, and Jessica's daughter, Sophie, is a tempting target for the killer, especially since her dad, undercover cop Vincent Balzano, has been kicked out of the house for cheating on Jessica. Several red herring suspects keep both cops and readers off balance, and there are plenty of subplots-Jessica is a female boxer, Byrne is the divorced father of a deaf daughter, there's a nosy tabloid reporter trying to start trouble. But most of these mini-dramas serve only to provide a breather between sadistic mutilations. Montanari can be a wonderfully evocative writer, but the final unveiling of the madman's identity will draw cries of foul from readers who expect a fighting chance at figuring out who the guilty party is. Agent, Meg Ruley. (Feb.) Forecast: Ballantine is pushing this one as Montanari's breakout book-and it's a featured alternate of the Literary Guild, the Mystery Guild and the Doubleday Book Club-but the dangling subplots and a formulaic ending may hobble it a bit. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.