The Violet Hour [Paperback]

Richard Montanari combines some unusual ingredients (the ethnic sociology of Cleveland, Ohio; the poetry of T.S. Eliot; the eccentricities of e-mail and chat rooms) with some of the more familiar elements of genre fiction (the hungry journalist who lucks into a good story; a series of current crimes linked to an old atrocity) to excellent effect in The Violet Hour. Writer Nicky Stella--besieged by debts and responsibilities of his own--tries to save his career by finding out why poetry students who went to a party at Case Western Reserve University 20 years ago are suddenly dying in very nasty ways. With its eclectic mixture of new technologies and classical murder mystery plot, The Violet Hour is a sleek and dark story of delayed revenge. Montanari's well-received and equally chilling first thriller, Deviant Way, is available in paperback. --Dick Adler

He's waited twenty years. He'll wait no longer. A gripping stand-alone thriller by the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Byrne and Balzano series. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Twenty years ago a group of students celebrated their daring and freedom at an exclusive college party, where something terrible happened. For most the memories are buried until a respected priest is brutally killed. For journalist Nick Stella this could be a chance to hit the big time again.

Praise for Richard Montanari

'Told at breakneck pace, with more than one truly frightening villain, and a protagonist whose tenacity in the face of evil makes him a hero for our times, you turn the pages as if your very life depends on it' Daily Mail

'A relentlessly suspenseful, soul-chilling thriller that hooks you instantly' Tess Gerritsen

'A no-holds-barred thriller that thrusts the reader into the black soul of the killer ... those with a taste for Thomas Harris will look forward to the sure-to-follow sequel' Library Journal

'Be prepared to stay up all night' James Ellroy

'A specialist in serial killer tales ... a wonderfully evocative writer' Publishers Weekly

'Razor-sharp plotting with a powerful narrative ... thrills to its very satisfying end' Chicago Tribune

'The novel is, like the nameless killer's victims, well executed. And like the killer himself, fiendishly twisted. A real page turner' Booklist

'Savvy and sharp ... as well-written a thriller as The Silence of the Lambs ... A winner'

Nelson DeMille

'With this novel, Montanari's reputation is set in stone - or written in blood - alongside the likes of Connelly, Slaughter and Ellroy' Crime Time Magazine

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Richard Montanari is the Sunday Times top ten bestselling author of The Echo Man, The Devil's Garden, Play Dead, The Rosary Girls, The Skin Gods and Broken Angels, as well as the internationally acclaimed thrillers Kiss of Evil, Don't Look Now (previously published as Deviant Way) and The Violet Hour. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio. To find out more about Richard Montanari visit his website at www.richardmontanari.com --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.