Cruel

“17.” L.A. detective Morris Brick knows the number all too well. It was the gruesome signature the Nightmare Man left next to his victims’ bodies. Brick’s father was the first to investigate the killings. Five women were butchered before the perpetrator vanished. Seventeen years later he resurfaced—to kill again in the same depraved ways. Now another seventeen years have passed. Brick knows in his gut that it’s time for the Nightmare Man to reawaken. But even Brick can’t imagine the madman’s true agenda. Or just how terrifying the sleepless nights are going to get in the City of Angels . . .
 
Praise for DERANGED
 
“A dark and different serial killer novel that will haunt the reader long after the book is closed.”
—John Lutz
 
“Los Angeles has seldom seen such grisly fun. It’s James Ellroy meets Alfred Hitchcock on the psychotic side of the street.”
—Paul Levine
 
“One of the most compelling, thrilling, and truth be told, at times look-away-from-page-frightening serial killer novels I've read in a long, long time.”
—Vincent Zandri
 
 “A fascinating and exciting blend of misdirection, topsy-turvy, and violence.”
—Reed Farrel Coleman

Jacob Stone is the pseudonym for Dave Zeltserman, an award-winning author of crime, mystery, and horror fiction. His crime novels Small Crimes and Pariah were both named by the Washington Post as best books of the year, with Small Crimes also topping National Public Radio's list of best crime and mystery novels of 2008.
 
His horror novel, The Caretaker of the Lorne Field, was short listed by the American Library Association for best horror novel of 2010, a Black Quill nominee for best dark genre book, and a Library Journal horror gem.
 
His Frankenstein retelling Monster was named by Booklist as one of the 10 best horror novels of the year, and by WBUR as one of the best novels of the year.
 
His mystery fiction is regularly published by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, has won Shamus and Derringer awards, and twice has won the Ellery Queen’s Readers Choice award.
 
Dave’s novels have been translated to German, French, Italian, Dutch, Lithuanian, and Thai. His novel Small Crimes has been made into a film starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Molly Parker, Gary Cole, Robert Forster, and Jacki Weaver, and can be seen on Netflix. His novels Outsourced and The Caretaker of Lorne Field are currently in development.