Near Death

By Richard Wall

ISBN:191246122

A 2020 release from

Burning Chair Ltd

 

A carefully crafted thriller of a crime novel. While the credibility of the novel requires substantial suspension of disbelief, the end result is eminently satisfying. A NYPD detective becomes embroiled in a devilish manipulation of the minds of authorities with the horrific repetition of the murder of a family in New York.

The killer confesses and is put to death in the Sing Sing electric char. The prison priest, a central character in the novel, is noticeably disturbed by his encounter with the convicted murderer. When the crimes are repeated, the pastor, has already left his position and his religious order and retreated to a small mountain village in South Carolina. Will the plea of a despicable murderer result in the return of the pastor to New York? What are the psychological implications of an apparently unbreakable link between pastor and the deceased killer?

These are some of the fascinating questions author Richard Wall addresses in this moving, emotional and very well plotted crime novel that moves between urban New York and rural South Carolina. The contrasting physical settings are effectively used by the author. The rising tension rises steadily as former pastor John Henry Beauregard, with help from a small cadre of friends and supporters, struggles to create and enact a winning position against a crafty, immoral Satanic killer. In the end, readers will decide for themselves the acceptability of the results. But in the meantime, readers will experience a well-designed and enthralling crime novel.