When the man from Primrose Lane, previously only glimpsed shuffling through town with mittens on, even in the height of summer, is found brutally murdered, no one suspects his death is connected to the horrific abduction and murders of innocent and striking red-haired girls.

His identity becomes a crucial key to unravelling the endlessly perplexing mysteries in true crime writer James Renner’s debut novel, The Man from Primrose Lane.

Four years after his murder the case is still ice cold in Akron, Ohio. The protagonist, true crime writer and single father, David Neff, is lured out of his own reclusive state, a reaction to the suicide of his red-haired wife immediately following the birth of their son, by the puzzling facts of the man from Primrose Lane’s demise. A connection between his tormented wife and the town hermit arises, blowing the case, and David’s comfortable numbness, wide open.

David Neff is a tragic character. He’s plagued with an obsessive nature.  Four years after his wife’s suicide he’s still haunted by their star-crossed love.  He finds himself tempted by a younger woman, who though she has a dramatically different personality, bears a strong resemblance to the mother of his son.

Much more than women, he finds himself consumed by solving crimes.  Left with a raging case of post traumatic stress disorder following the completion of his first book which required him to delve into the disturbing world of trafficking pedophiles, David is not sure he’ll ever be able to cope without medication.  And he’s frightened when he sees the same obsessive qualities in his young son who spends hours building elaborate machines inspired by the board game Mouse Trap.

In many ways David is his own worst enemy. He isn’t so different from the sociopaths lurking in the background of the story, waiting for the opportunity to snatch up young girls. His obsessions lead him to act impulsively, often with disastrous results. And the novel raises the question, how different is David from the loathsome stalkers he profiles? In another lifetime, could he be one of them? Or has he already crossed over, responsible for the double murder of his wife and the man from Primrose Lane?

The quantum concept of infinite worlds with infinite outcomes is deftly explored with surprising results when science fiction elements are woven into the gritty crime mystery. The novel is a complex tapestry of genres, plotlines and timelines. Seemingly random diversions and non-sequiturs pop up along the way only to be brilliantly revealed as crucial puzzle pieces later. In the hands of a less capable writer this tale would have been a jumbled mess.  But Renner delivers an incredibly satisfying experience that I am still pondering a week after finishing the book.  Frankly, I’m amazed at how well it all came together.

I recommend this novel to active readers who enjoy dark, uncompromising and provocative fiction.

The Man from Primrose Lane: A Novel by James Renner, is available from Amazon for $16.12.

*I received this book from the publisher, but was under no obligation to post a good review.

I’m having a great time going through Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Names: For Pagans, Witches, Wiccans, Druids, Heathens, Mages, Shamans & Independent Thinkers of All Sorts.  This bulky compendium has entries for more than fifteen thousand names, ranging from the most mundane to the strikingly unusual.  Whatever motivates your search for a name, whether it’s for a baby, yourself, or a character, you’ll find plenty of inspiration in this book.

It’s a great resource for fiction writers, especially those writing fantasy, historical fiction or horror, and seeking names for creatures of the night.  I’m going to keep a few of my favorite entries to myself, but I’ve made note of Nyx, Vacuna, Shade, Obsidian, Morag and Adriel so far.  Just looking at these names gives me ideas for twisted characters.

I haven’t thought up a name yet that I couldn’t find in the book.  The names are drawn from all over the world.  Each entry attempts to trace the origin and definition of the name as well as personages from history, mythology and pop culture who have wielded said name.  Lists in the back divide the names into more manageable categories such as the elements, the zodiac, pagan and magical names and colors.

A close-up of the entry for my name, Dahlia. Flamboyant? I never! Well, maybe just a little.... The entry for Jane says that it's a feminine form of John, which means "Yahweh has favored" in Hebrew. I'll take all that to mean that I'm a favored flower with good taste.

If I were you, I’d skip the introduction.  It actually put me to sleep when I was taking notes on the book.  It had a few interesting passages in the section “History of Names,” including the revelation that nicknames were used in Medieval Europe because of the superstitious notion that if someone knew your real name they could “witch” you. But for the most part, it rambled all over the place.

Name entries are much more succinct and to the point.  And if you really want to get in-depth into a specific name, the entries are a great jumping off point to guide your further research.

Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Names is available from Amazon for $18.21.

*I received this book from the publisher, but was under no obligation to post a good review.

In a letter to Anthony Ciaglia, sadistic rapist and serial killer David Gore wrote, “I think there is a place inside all of us that is drawn to a dark side.  It’s just that most people can resist it and take control.  While some of us give into it.” (310)

An exploration of the darkest impulses of the human mind is masterfully presented in The Serial Killer Whisperer: How One Man’s Tragedy Helped Unlock the Deadliest Secrets of the World’s Most Terrifying Killers.  This nonfiction book by journalist Pete Earley gives readers a rare glimpse into serial killers as they perceive themselves.

After a freak accident left fifteen year old Anthony Ciaglia with a traumatic brain injury that drastically affected his personality, he began a prolific correspondence with more than thirty incarcerated murderers.  Filled with rages that isolated him from his peers, Ciaglia looked forward to his daily trips to the “Murder Box” or UPS postbox where killers would send graphic depictions of their crimes and fantasies.

Over the years both the killers and Ciaglia found captive audiences who hung on each other’s every word.  Ciaglia offered the killers a window to the outside world and a nonjudgmental ear.  The killers gave Ciaglia insight into his detachment, a feeling of camaraderie (however misguided), and finally a sense of purpose when his hobby evolved into a mission to help solve cold cases.

The bulk of The Serial Killer Whisperer focuses on Ciaglia’s exchanges with just three serial killers: Arthur Shawcross, David Gore and Joe Metheny.  Earley’s decision to focus on in-depth profiles of these three men, rather than a general survey of all of the killers Ciaglia writes to, was wise as it keeps the reader from becoming overwhelmed.  Joe Metheny, in particular was fascinating as he claims to have served people human meat from his victims in barbecue pork and beef sandwiches he sold out of his roadside stand.

Ciaglia had the time and the interest to build relationships with these men.  We receive the benefit of a distilled look at their correspondences.  The letters are lurid, crude and obscene.  The killers describe victims’ awful ends with relish and it is horrifically gripping.

But the true value of the book is the access into the mindsets of the killers.  Of course their thoughts are edited with the goal of manipulating the reader (Ciaglia, and now us) to see them as they want to be seen.  Shawcross in particular bristles whenever he’s asked about his first two murders of two children but boasts about unbelievable exploits in Vietnam.

Weeding through the distortions, throughout the letters are revealing statements of the killers’ warped sense of reality.  “I chose them to die and I killed them with my hands because I respected the life I was taking from them,” Arthur Shawcross wrote.  Gore admits he always wondered why he felt compelled to take the scalps of women he killed as trophies.  Later he muses that after he’s executed he wants to be remembered as a man who tried to do good in the world even though he was unsuccessful.

Author Earley consistently strives to present a balanced picture of everyone involved.  Whenever possible, contents of the killers’ letters are compared to police reports and other witness accounts. Even Ciaglia’s temper and the pain it caused the people around him are exposed in detail whether he’s boasting about keying a stranger’s car, verbally berating his girlfriend or threatening to kill himself.  “It seemed that the only time I would communicate with my family was when I was verbally insulting them,” Tony admits in one of his letters.  “I don’t know what it was or why I was acting like such an ungrateful animal at that time, but for some reason I loved to make my mother cry.” (50)

Some fans of true crime accounts may be frustrated with the time the author takes to set up Ciaglia’s backstory from his accident until he begins feverishly writing serial killers.  But Ciaglia’s inability to return to the way his life was before the accident as well as his frustration with his out of control emotions becomes very important in the way he can relate to the killers.  The book goes down incredibly dark paths when killers encourage Ciaglia to become one of them and he begins to question his sanity.  This aspect of the narrative would have been far less poignant without the context.

Another source of dissatisfaction for some readers may come in the fact that the third act ends without the resolution of cold cases.  But it shows how selfish, untrustworthy and guarded Ciaglia’s pen pals are that they keep the truth to themselves even after there is no hope of their release.  Ciaglia has opened lines of communication that few others have accessed, however.  Perhaps in the future this will lead to new information.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  While I have read more true crime books than I can count, very few of them have been able to reveal the voice of the killers outside of the occasional confession or testimony.  And I admire the Ciaglia family’s openness to Earley exposing their story.  Anthony Ciaglia’s parents and younger brother were so patient and supportive with Anthony’s outbursts, recovery and interest in serial killers.  I enjoyed meeting them.  They seem like my kind of people.

The Serial Killer Whisperer is available from Amazon for $16.32.

*I received this book from the publisher, but was under no obligation to post a good review.