Two men - one good, one evil - who think in pictures.
Police sketch artist Nate Rodriguez, and a vicious serial killer who makes portraits of his victims and leaves them pinned to their bodies.
Jonathan Santlofer’s Anatomy of Fear has an interesting subtitle: A Novel of Visual Suspense.
There are 100 or so sketches scattered throughout the book that enhance the narrative in this unique thriller.
An interesting mystical element is also drawn into the tale. Rodriguez is so good at what he does that everyone jokes that he is psychic.
Perhaps he is. In fact his Puerto Rican grandmother is a santera, or priestess, and he turns to her for support when he begins to feel himself being pulled into the mind of the killer by a misbegotten sense of kinship for their shared artistic gifts.
Santlofer, who wrote three earlier art mysteries, is an accomplished painter who studied art at Boston University and Pratt Institute.
He says, “I have always loved mysteries. Perhaps it's because making a painting is loaded with unknowns-where it may lead you; how you will resolve it. Painting and writing are totally different, but equally compelling.”
Check his website for an interesting promotional offer. You can enter a contest to have your portrait done by the author.
And for another intersting promotion, check out the CourtTV 8-day Mystery Challenge where you could win up to $25,000!
