Synopsis
Thomas (Tom) Barton, therapist, forensic psychiatrist, and widower, aged 64, is on the verge of selling his psychiatric medical practice to his young associate, Gabriel Daniels, and moving to a quiet beach somewhere on the coast of South Carolina. But Barton's plans are interrupted when Gabe practically begs for help in deciphering the horrific and cryptic writings in a diary he receives from his patient, Jose Navarro. Reluctantly, Barton agrees and soon reaches out to his god-daughter Sandra Davis, the day-shift manager of the Richland County Mental Health Department where Navarro was previously a patient. Since his wife’s passing, Sandra has been somewhat of a surrogate daughter to Barton, and a very important presence in his life. Barton learns from Sandra that Jose Navarro's high school counselor, Judy Doddsen, may have kept records that could help him in his research, except that Judy has been the victim of a terrible murder committed by her husband, Dr. Taylor Strickland, several years before. In an attempt to gain access to Dr. Strickland, Barton meets with Sergeant Cynthia Wainwright, but returns home to find very fresh blood-stained evidence in his house. Almost immediately, Barton learns from Captain Michael Deltonno, his closest friend, that the home of Gabe Daniels has been defiled in a grotesque display of violence and blood, and that Gabe is missing. His home now a crime scene, Barton stays with Sandra, but the killer follows him. Barton is attacked and hospitalized, and Sandra is violently abducted in the midst of the worst killing spree the Richland County Sheriff's Department has ever had to face. Captain Deltonno, Sergeant Wainwright, and their team of investigators and Deputy Sheriffs, frantically search for the missing Sandra, trying to stop the unseen murderer, while Barton struggles to decipher the hidden meanings in the Shattered Diary.
About the Author
Benjamin E. Lacy was born in Naples, Italy in 1962 to a US Air Force father and stay-at-home mom. Military life took him around most of the United States early in life, but he lived mostly in the southeast (Georgia and Alabama). After a 10-year stint in US Navy as a nuclear plant operator, Ben settled in Aiken, SC, where he now resides with his loving wife, Jillian Ashworth and their numerous canine companions. After earning a BS in Nuclear Engineering, Ben spent 25 years as a contractor to the Department of Energy, working most of that time as a nuclear engineer. Jill and Ben have three children (Alden Nead, Brent Lacy, and Nolan Lacy). Now in retirement from engineering, Ben spends much of his time either playing music, video-gaming (look for him on XBox Live as TheOldMan1962), traveling around North America with Jill and the pups in their fifth-wheel RV, and writing. He now has one novel (Shattered Diary), with two more on the way, and many short stories.
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