By Reason Insanity

Thomas Bishop was 25 when he escaped from an institution for the criminally insane. Behind him was a gro tesque history of pain, murder and rage. Ahead lay a path of horrifying vengeance that would trigger the most intense ma nhunt. '

Back in the '70s, when the term "serial killer" wasn't yet popular, Shane Stevens wrote this long, exquisitely detailed novel about a psychopathic murderer. Thomas Bishop escapes from an insane asylum at age 25 and begins what he fully intends to be a historic career as a multiple murderer. He is meticulous, intelligent, conscious of what he is doing, and utterly amoral. And we are inside his head, every step of the way--a welcome approach compared to contemporary works that focus on a detective or reporter protagonist. The New York Times called it "violent realism . . . extremely effective."