Myth Man

It starts with the murder of a priest. When police detective Dominick Presto is brought in on the case, he immediately connects the priest’s death to an earlier unsolved murder. As Dominick throws his considerable weight and talents into solving the mystery, he realizes the threat facing the city: a meticulous killer, with years of planning invested and a diabolical endgame in sight, is targeting religious figures. As the legend of Myth Man grows and the bodies begin piling up, can even Dominick’s skills stop this murderous master of disguise before he strikes again?

A thriller steeped in both criminal and moral trespasses, Myth Man is something of a rarity, offering an intellectual battleground, as well as a lawful one. While the villainous Myth Man is cunning and brutal, he also makes a valid point about the dangers of organized religion, leaving any reader, no matter what religious background, with thought-provoking questions, like “how far is too far?”

While having a police detective on the outs with most of the department is nothing new to fiction, Dominick is an engaging outcast, overweight and wholly devoted to his mother, yet blessed with an ability to see connections that elude most of his comrades. Dominick is decidedly human in a genre populated by supermen, and his struggles with both the case and his fellow officers help separate Myth Man from the pack.

Near the end of the book, the twists (and untwists) come fast and furious, abandoning the slower investigative style for a more breakneck tension-driven narrative, and for the most part, the story concludes nicely. (Personally, there was one particular twist I had trouble swallowing, but perhaps a second read will mitigate that feeling.)

Nonetheless, I hope there are more Dominick Presto cases to come.