Carnage: Short Story by John Lutz

Highest Praise for
John Lutz
     
     
     
    “John Lutz knows how to make you shiver.”
    —Harlan Coben
     
    “Lutz offers up a heart-pounding roller coaster
of a tale.”
    —Jeffery Deaver
     
    “John Lutz is one of the masters of the police novel.”
    —Ridley Pearson
     
    “John Lutz is a major talent.”
    —John Lescroart
     
    “I’ve been a fan for years.”
    —T. Jefferson Parker
     
    “John Lutz just keeps getting better and better.”
    —Tony Hillerman
     
    “Lutz ranks with such vintage masters
of big-city murder
as Lawrence Block and Ed McBain.”
    — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
     
    “Lutz is among the best.”
    — San Diego Union
     
    “Lutz knows how to seize and hold the
reader’s imagination.”
    — Cleveland Plain Dealer
     
    “It’s easy to see why he’s won an Edgar
and two Shamuses.”
    — Publishers Weekly
     
     
     
    Twist
     
    “One of the top ten mystery novels of 2013.”
    — The Strand Magazine
     
     
     
    Pulse
     
    “Grisly murders seen through the eyes of killer
and victim; crime scenes from which clues slowly
accumulate; a determined killer . . . compelling.”
    — Booklist
     
    “One of the ten best books of the year.”
    — The Strand Magazine
     
     
     
    Serial
     
    “Wow, oh wow, oh wow . . . that’s as simple as I can put it.
You gotta read this one.”
    — True Crime Book Reviews
     
     
     
    Mister X
     
    “A page-turner to the nail-biting end . . . twisty,
creepy whodunit.”
    — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
     
     
     
    Urge to Kill
     
    “A solid and compelling winner . . . sharp
characterization, compelling dialogue and graphic
depictions of evil.... Lutz knows how to keep
the pages turning.”
    — BookReporter.com
     
     
     
    Night Kills
     
     
    “Lutz’s skill will keep you glued to this thick thriller.”
    — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
     
     
     
    In for the Kill
     
     
    “Shamus and Edgar award–winner Lutz gives us
further proof of his enormous talent . . . an
enthralling page-turner.”
    — Publishers Weekly
     
     
     
    Chill of Night
     
     
    “The ingenuity of the plot shows that Lutz
is in rare form.”
    — The New York Times Book Review
     
    “A dazzling tour de force . . . compelling, absorbing.”
    — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
     
     
     
    Fear the Night
     
     
    “A tense, fast-moving novel, a plot-driven page-turner of
the first order . . . a great read!”
    — Book Page
    Darker Than Night
     
     
    “Readers will believe that they just stepped off a Tilt-A-
Whirl after reading this action-packed police
procedural.”
    — The Midwest Book Review
     
     
     
    Night Victims
     
     
    “John Lutz knows how to ratchet up the terror. . . . He
propels the story with effective twists and a fast pace.”
    — Sun-Sentinel
     
     
     
    The Night Watcher
     
    “Compelling . . . a gritty psychological
thriller.... Lutz draws the reader deep into the
killer’s troubled psyche.”
    — Publishers Weekly
     
     
     
    Final Seconds
     
     
    “Lutz always delivers the goods, and this is
no exception.”
    — Booklist

ALSO BY JOHN LUTZ
     
     
    *Twist
     
    *Pulse
     
    *Switch (e-short)
     
    *Serial
     
    *Mister X
     
    *Urge to Kill
     
    *Night Kills
     
    *In for the Kill
     
    Chill of Night
     
    Fear the Night
     
    *Darker Than Night
     
    Night Victims
     
    The Night Watcher
     
    The Night Caller
     
    Final Seconds (with David August)
     
    The Ex
     
    Single White Female
     
     
     
    * featuring Frank Quinn
     
     
     
    Available from Kensington Publishing Corp. and Pinnacle Books

Carnage
T HE P REQUEL TO F RENZY
J OHN L UTZ

    PINNACLE BOOKS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
www.kensingtonbooks.com

    All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

For Marilyn Davis

1
    Florida, two years ago
     
    An hour after killing the girl on her summer vacation, the killer took the coast road north.
    To his right the morning sky was dark, with low gray clouds. He was sure that out at sea, rain must be falling. Straight ahead, what he