William Bernhardt

Synopsis

Sometimes her eyes seduce. Sometimes they stare straight at the kind of sights most people turn away from. But in the blazing neon and searing sun of Las Vegas, she can't see the man who is watching her and thinking to himself: She is the one...

From the mountain views beyond the Strip to the dingy dens of forbidden pleasure, Susan Pulaski loves Las Vegas. A woman who wears a gun at her side and her heart on a sleeve, Pulaski is the perfect fit for her city and her job: unraveling the minds of deviant personalities. Until a killer begins decorating Sin City with the horribly disfigured bodies of once beautiful young women...and Pulaski's own demons go on a binge.

Eight months after her cop husband's death, her life is spinning out of control–just as her detective colleagues start searching for a serial killer who methodically stalks his female victims and plunges them into an orgy of terror. When a violent incident earns Pulaski a pink slip from the LVPD and a trip to detox, she's out of the hunt altogether, so she begins to desperately try to regain her job, her reputation, and custody of the niece she's been raising on her own. It seems hopeless–until Pulaski meets the one person who can lead her into the mind of a madman no one else can understand. Darcy O'Bannon is a twenty-five-year-old autistic savant whose relationship with the world around him is so unusual that it forces Pulaski to view the crimes from a bizarre–but ultimately insightful–perspective.

White-knuckling her way to the center of the case, she becomes the key player in a desperate hunt for a killer who believes he has found divine inspiration in the works of Edgar Allan Poe. But even with the assistance of Darcy's astonishing skills, Pulaski is in even more danger than she knows. For the man she seeks is watching her, seduced by her frailties and strengths, her beauty and boldness. To finish his masterwork of horror, he needs her.

In a blistering novel that brings together glitz and goth, human weakness and human genius, and a murderous psychopath who is all too chillingly real, master storyteller William Bernhardt has created an unparalleled literary Las Vegas thrill ride that will leave readers breathless until the final, stunning page.

Back Story

This book is the result of two events that fused together in my mind to produce one of my best books. My dear son, Harry, is autistic, very smart, very high-functioning, with a fabulous memory and a gift for noticing what no one else ever would ever observe. He and I often talk about his future, what he wants to do with his life, and some of those conversations have been pretty wild.

I have read bedtime stories to all my children (still do) and as I was reading a Sherlock Holmes story to Alice one night I thought, You know, if Sherlock Holmes isn't autistic, he's something darn close. Which led to the thought, What would Harry be like as a detective? His gift for keen observation is clearly there, and he has great puzzle-solving skills, an incredible memory...but he just doesn't understand people. He would need to work with someone who did, like maybe...a psychologist, someone who specializes in understanding people, particularly the aberrant ones who commit serious crimes...

So now you know where Susan and Darcy came from. I loved writing this book so much I wrote a sequel, Strip Search. I hope to return to these characters one day, because I have a sense that their story is not quite complete. A trilogy would be nice, don't you think?

Reviews

"Murder in Sin City, as investigated by a tough woman cop and her incomparably gifted young associate–Bernhardt and Las Vegas go together like fire and gasoline."
– Stephen Coonts, New York Times bestselling author of Liars and Thieves

"Showcasing William Bernhardt at the height of his storytelling powers, Dark Eye is a Silence of the Lambs meets Rain Man thriller that will chill you while its two unique and endearing protagonists steal your heart."
– Lisa Scottoline, New York Times bestselling author of Killer Smile

"Bernhardt keeps his foot flat on the accelerator, producing action at every turn of the page."
– Orlando Sentinel

Category: Fiction, Fiction - Suspense, Fiction - Mystery & Detective
Format: Paperback, 480 pages
On Sale: January 31, 2006
ISBN: 978-0-345-47016-4 (0-345-47016-8)

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