Synopses & Reviews
Internationally bestselling author John Katzenbach is a master of the revenge plot. With
The Dead Student, he has come up with his most psychologically tense thriller yet, as one young man's quest to redeem his uncle turns deadly.
Timothy Warner, who goes by the nickname Moth,” is ninety-nine days sober and back on track for a PhD in American History at the University of Miami. His AA sponsor and main source of support is his uncle Ed, a former alcoholic who is now a successful psychiatrist. But when Ed misses an appointment, Moth arrives at his office and discovers a grisly scene: His uncle lying in a pool of his own blood, shot dead through the temple. Deeply shaken, Moth calls 911 and waits for the police, who pronounce the death a suicide. Two words are scrawled across Eds prescription pad: My fault.” But Moth refuses to believe that his uncle would take his own life. Devastated and confused, he calls on the only person he can trust: Andrea Martine, an ex-girlfriend he has not spoken to in four years, a young woman who is struggling through her own personal trauma.
Each battling their inner demons, Moth and Andy travel into dark, unfamiliar territory, intent on finding out the truth about Eds death, and circling ever closer to a devious mind that will flinch at nothing to achieve his goal.
Review
A Publishers Weekly top 10 mystery and thriller for fallKatzenbach proves he is a genius at handling complex dark plots and characters, and masterfully narrates the most terrifying recesses of the mind. You will read The Dead Student in one sitting.”ABC Nacional (Madrid)
Boasting one of the freshest and most unlikely duos to appear in crime fiction in some time, the latest thriller by Katzenbach is one of his most enjoyable.”Kirkus Reviews
[A] clever cat-and-mouse thriller.”—Publishers Weekly
Praise for John Katzenbach:
Powerful . . . a fiendish story told with Katzenbachs usual skill and professionalism. . . . This is an exceptional noveland a most troubling one.”Washington Post, on What Comes Next
No one portrays the mind of a sociopathic killer better than John Katzenbach.”William Bayer, Edgar Awardwinning author of Peregrine and Switch, on Red 1-2-3
Synopsis
A master of the psychological thriller, bestselling author John Katzenbach is an unrivaled investigator of that most primal human motive—revenge. A tense, penetrating novel,
The Dead Student follows a young man set on avenging his uncle, no matter the consequences.
Timothy Warner, a PhD student who goes by the nickname Moth,” wakes up on his ninety-ninth day of sobriety with an intense craving for drink. He asks his uncle Ed, a former alcoholic and now successful psychiatrist, to meet him at an AA meeting later that day. When Ed doesn't show up, Moth bikes to his office and discovers a grisly scene—his uncle lying in a pool of blood, shot through the temple. The police pronounce the death a suicide, but Moth refuses to believe that his uncle would take his own life. Devastated and confused, he calls on the only person he thinks he can trust: Andrea Martine, an ex-girlfriend he has not spoken to in years.
Each battling their inner demons, Moth and Andy travel into dark, unfamiliar territory, intent on finding out the truth about Eds death and circling ever closer to a devious mind that will flinch at nothing to achieve his own goal of revenge.
About the Author
John Katzenbach has written thirteen previous novels, including the
New York Times bestseller
The Traveler,
Day of Reckoning,
Just Cause, and
What Comes Next. Katzenbach was a criminal court reporter for the
Miami Herald and
Miami News. He lives in western Massachusetts.