Richard Montanari Books

The terrifying new Byrne and Balzano case from the author of The Killing Room and The Stolen Ones.

When the first body is found, mutilated and strangled on the riverbanks, Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano suspect yet another case of random urban violence. Then it happens again. And again

Destroyed by fire years ago, the infamous Philadelphia State Hospital was known as a warehouse for the criminally insane. But one man never left. By night Luther walks Philadelphia's backstreets; by day he roams the catacombs beneath the city. Luther is everywhere and nowhere; he's is in your dreams - and your nightmares. Then Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano are called to a bizarre murder scene: a man has been killed by a railroad spike driven into his head. But this is just the beginning of a trail of evil that will lead Byrne and Balzano back to the hospital, to a missing girl and to a horror they could never have imagined ...

This brawny, hard-edged novel from an emerging star of suspense pits two besieged Philadelphia homicide detectives against a fiercely intelligent and relentlessly brutal serial killer--a monster fueled by a twisted, sacrilegious fury.

Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano's first assignment from the Cold Case files is a gruesome murder of a young girl in the Philadelphia Badlands, a bleak and desolate area of crime and depravity. Carefully posed, the lifeless girl is perfectly framed in a square window.Soon another Badlands runaway is found viciously murdered, this time arranged on the roof of a building shaped like a triangle.As the victims add up, each body tells an increasingly grisly story. A seemingly unrelated crime scene leads Byrne and Balzano to an eccentric older woman who introduces them to a Tangram puzzle, an ancient code of shapes.When the woman takes her own life, she leaves behind a cryptic clue, a word composed of four worn Scrabble tiles: LUDO, the Latin word for game. There is a foul breath of evil blowing through these murderous geometric puzzles and as more runaways vanish and more shapes are revealed, Byrne and Balzano soon realize that the homicidal mastermind plans to complete all seven forms of his dark and twisted Tangram puzzle.Unless they can stop him first?

Packed with ingenious twists and relentless excitement, and starring two of the most compelling heroes in crime fiction, The Killing Room is a major thriller event: the best novel yet from one of the world's best suspense writers

Your face is a blur to him. But your body still bleeds. The Farren family has been a plague upon Philadelphia's most dangerous neighbourhood, the Devil's Pocket, for generations. There, row after row of tumbledown houses hide dark secrets - none darker than Billy, the youngest Farren. Afflicted by a syndrome that means he can't recognise faces, Billy must use photographs to identify his family - and his victims. And when your life has bled away, he takes a final, gruesome picture for his wall. But what is the meaning of the horrific ritual Billy enacts with every murder? And is there any connection to a childhood event Detective Kevin Byrne has buried so well it's hidden even from his former partner Jessica Balzano?

It is fall in Philadelphia and the mutilated body of a man has been found in one of the poorest neighbourhoods. When homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano investigate, they soon realise that their crime scene is linked to an unsolved case. Eight years ago, another body was found in the same position, killed in the same manner. Apart from this killer's unusual calling cards, the crime scene photos are identical. As another body appears, then another, it becomes horrifyingly clear that someone is recreating unsolved murders from Philadelphia's past. And the killer is closer than they think ...

In this electrifying sequel to "The Rosary Girls," Philadelphia detectives Jessica Balzano and Kevin Byrne are on the trail of a maniacal killer, who is recreating Hollywoods most famous murder scenes and casting real-life victims.

Michael Roman is finally living the peaceful life he has so long desired. But his idyllic life in upstate New York is about to come crashing down around him because Michael is a man with a past. Three years ago, when working for the New York District Attorney, Michael's successful life was shattered when he was viciously attacked and left for dead. After a painful recuperation, he pieced together his ruined life, married and adopted twin girls. But under suspicion for a crime he did not commit, his world is about to be devastated all over again and this time, Michael's life is not the only one at risk. He must find the psychopath who is targeting his family or he and his girls will be the next victims. In a desperate fight for the truth and survival, Michael must confront the life he left behind in order to save his family from a depraved madman who will stop at nothing.