By Blood Written [Hardcover]

Steven Womack (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2005

At first, it was just research . . . After several critically acclaimed novels, Michael Schiftmann has yet to make the kind of living he thinks due him; any kind of living at all, in fact. His novels have been described as literate and multi-layered, but as Michael knows all too well, literate doesn't sell. One drunken, depressed night, it comes to him. Readers want glitz and violence he'll give it to them. He'll create a series of novels featuring the boldest, coldest serial killer ever imagined. He'll get inside the murderer's head in ways no writer has ever done. Every emotion, every sensation, every delicious moment will be captured on the page. But to do this, he'll have to discover for himself what it feels like to actually kill someone. And what Michael Schiftmann discovers is that murder feels good.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Michael Schiftmann, born in a Cleveland slum, is a highly intelligent, urbane author of a grisly, best-selling series about a serial killer. But beneath Michael's charming exterior lurks a cold-blooded psychopathic killer. The brutal murders he commits serve, as Michael puts it, as "background research" for his books, which feed on "society's sick fascination with violence." He has committed 13 murders, each time leaving behind a letter of the alphabet written in the victim's blood. After the brutalized bodies of Michael's two latest victims are discovered in a massage parlor in Nashville, FBI agent Hank Powell decides he can't rest until the "Alphabet Man" is caught. It takes just one slipup on Michael's part for Powell to get close enough to capture him. But Michael refuses to acknowledge defeat and conjures up a few more ghastly surprises. Although the prose is occasionally uneven, the plot is chockablock with unusual twists, the tension is palpable, and the denouement is terrifying. An edge-of-the-seat thriller. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Steven Womack is the "New York Times" Notable, Edgar(R) and Shamus awards-winning author of ten novels, including "Dead Folks' Blues" and "Dirty Money". He lives with his wife and two daughters in Nashville, Tennessee, where he is also a professor of screenwriting at Watkins Film School.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 347 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers; 1st World Ed edition (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 072786209X
• ISBN-13: 978-0727862099
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,041,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars by Spectacularly Gifted Author, September 8, 2005

By 

Mike Price (Reno, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: By Blood Written (Hardcover)

Make up your own superlatives. This most gifted of the "New Southern Writers," if such a category exists, literally explodes onto the hard-cover novel scene. Steven Womack is so deft, so solidly talented, so absolutely riveting a writer that it's virtually impossible for the reader, once past the first few chapter, to abandon the book for any less than a life-threatening reason. Okay, so maybe that's a little overboard. Mystery fans, however, might do well to focus on the silly puzzle of why Severn House, the book's clearly inept British publishers, have failed so miserable in distributing and publicizing this obvious top-of-the lists nascent best-seller. "By Blood Written," to any intelligent bookseller, is a goldmine on paper. You might pause in reading it, you might finish it, but you cannot forget it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Womack Rocks!, September 6, 2005

By 

M. Williams (Sherman Oaks, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: By Blood Written (Hardcover)

I have read all of Steve Womack's books and this, by far, is the best one yet! I sat down and started to read the book and was able to read the first four chapters before I had to put the book down. The next day I picked the book up again and could NOT stop reading until I was completely done. The story is riveting, the writing superb. John Grisham, look out!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solving the Mystery, June 8, 2005

By 

Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: By Blood Written (Hardcover)

Meet a serial killer, the Alphabet Man. Michael Schiftmann's charismatic, good in bed, and he's formed his real-life violence into the riveting plots of his bestselling mystery series. After years of struggle and poverty, he's signing a huge contract and proposing to the woman who's believed in him from the start.

Now he has a problem. After a particularly brutal double murder in Nashville, the FBI has a link the the Alphabet Man. Michael Schiftmann's success will soon face the ultimate test. After the not-for-the-squeamish first couple of chapters, this turns into a well-paced mystery. When and how will Schiftmann be caught? Will they be able to put him away for good?

Steven Womack may not tread entirely new ground here, but he does twist and turn the story in unexpected ways. He mixes Thomas Harris and John Grisham, creating psychological and legal twists. Although he fails to answer some of the questions of Schiftmann's childhood, Womack gives us a memorable character to hate. Schiftmann's fiancee, on the other hand, is a woman we can relate to. She loves this talented man. Could the accusations be true?

If you're like me, you'll race through this story. Steven Womack, like his fictional character, has written a number of well-received, award-winning mysteries. And yet, he's never had the financial success to match the critical acclaim. This may in fact be the largest mystery here: Why isn't this guy on the bestseller lists? Let's hope this novel solves the mystery by drawing in the large group of fans he deserves.