Forgive Me, Alex by Lane Diamond

Book Blurb: 

Tony Hooper stands in shadow across the street, one amongst many in the crowd of curiosity-hounds gathered to watch a monster's release. Seventeen years after Mitchell Norton, "the devil," terrorized Algonquin, Illinois on a spree of kidnapping, torture and murder, the authorities release the butcher from psychiatric prison.

Tony longs to charge across the street to destroy Norton—no remorse—as if stepping on a cockroach. Only sheer force of will prevents his doing so.

"The devil" walks the world again. What shall Tony do about it? Aye, what indeed.


After all, this is what Tony does. It's who he is. "The devil" himself long ago made Tony into this hunter of monsters. What a sweet twist of fate this is, that he may still, finally, administer justice.

Will FBI Special Agent Linda Monroe stop him? She owes him her life, so how can she possibly put an end to his?

Tony Hooper and Mitchell Norton battle for supremacy, with law enforcement always a step away, in this story of justice and vengeance, evil and redemption, fear and courage, love and loss.

My review:

This is a psychological thriller in the best sense of the phrase. Tony Hooper experienced tragedy in the summer of 1978 that changed his life forever. Mitchell Norton was the perpetrator of the evil deeds that made Tony who he is today.

This book goes back and forth between 1978 and 1995 and changes perspectives between Tony's and Mitchell's. It is dark and violently graphic and unlike a lot of psychological thrillers we know right away who the murderer is. But we keep reading because we don't know what happens to Diana until the very end. 

It is great, and horrible, to get inside the mind of a serial killer in this way. Thank you Lane Diamond. This is a great book.

About the author (from his website):

Lane Diamond is my pseudonym.  My real name is Dave Lane, and I’m a writer, editor and publisher currently living in Wisconsin.  I freelanced from 2007-2010, but I now focus all my energy on our Evolved Publishing venture, which I co-founded with my business partner, D.T. Conklin, and where I also serve as Executive Editor.

My writings cross over many genres and focus on diverse subjects, ranging from the mysteries of the human mind, with its fragile psychological and emotional states, to the everyday joy and anguish of life on Earth.  I love a good story, of course, a compelling plot and a satisfying conclusion.  Yet as a reader, I’ve always been drawn to great characters.  The characters bring me back to an author time and time again.  This shows in my writing, where I attempt to create authentic, complex, real characters you can come to love, and in whose company you feel at home.  Or maybe you’ll despise a character and want to stick a fork in his eye.  Hey, bad guys are fun too.

As part of our Evolved Publishing launch, I started releasing my short stories (select the “Short Stories” tab at top of page to see them) in 2011.  I have a fair library of stories available, so I’ll probably release one every couple months or so–we’ll have to see what the schedule allows.  My debut novel, Forgive Me, Alex (first 5 chapters available for preview on this site) is now available at most eBook retailers and formats.  The sequel, The Devil’s Bane, will be out in 2012.  I’ve also written many poems, and even played around with song lyrics.  Not sure what I’ll do with those.

When not writing, I edit the work of other authors on the Evolved Publishing team, and work to build out the business through online forums, social media sites, and whatever marketing avenues make sense for our business model.  We run contests and giveaways, form and edit anthologies, and chase our dreams together.

I’ve done my tours in both the U.S. Air Force and the business world, where I’ve been everything from a Forklift Operator to an Operations Manager, a Bartender to a Business Services Manager, a Salesman to a Project Manager.  I even “played around” for a few years as the Lead Singer for a couple of Rock-N-Roll bands.