Houston is shattered by a shock wave of unbelievably vicious sex killings. And this time the pattern is unique--way out of line with traditional violent-crime psychology. In Detective Carmen Palma's experience, a psychopath always chooses anonymous targets. But the Houston victims know and trust their killer: They meet willingly in hotel rooms, even in their homes. They don't fight when the leather cuffs are fastened to their wrists and ankles. They don't even struggle when the first blows fall . . .Palma's first lightning instinct is that the victims expected their torture. They were practicing masochists, apart of a secret clique that includes some of the city's most prominent women. They helped choreograph their own punishments-every blow. They just didn't expect to die. . .
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Lindsey ( In the Lake of the Moon ) has constructed a lean, gripping, psychological thriller around a gruesome subject: a series of brutally sadistic murders among the lesbian demimonde of monied Houston. The victims are found nude, beaten, bitten, slashed--and perfumed and flawlessly made-up, but with their eyelids expertly sliced from their eyes. Lindsey's likable heroine, recently divorced detective Carmen Palma, frantically tries to discover the murderer before another strike, battling both male chauvinism within the department and a growing discomfort with her task: exposure to the brutalized corpses is destroying her peace of mind. Still, she's tough, her powers of deduction remarkable, and the investigation moves swiftly--though it's periodically upstaged by erotic descriptions of murder and incest as well as enlightening asides on the nature and psychology of lesbianism, serial murder, transvestism, fetishism, bisexuality and sadomasochism. In all, Lindsey seems to have achieved a paradoxical goal: to create a sexually charged thriller that entertains in a responsible manner. Written with masterly skill, his chilling, provocative story is propelled by sophisticated characterization, credible dialogue and accurately rendered details. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections; author tour.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"With a sure, steady hand Lindsey ratchets the suspense and sexual tension tighter and tighter, page by merciless page. The only mercy you'll get is the word on the cover."--Stephen Conts.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
David Lindsey has published 14 novels in the mystery, thriller, suspense, and spy genres. He began his writing career in 1983 by publishing two mystery novels in the same year. One of those novels, "A Cold Mind" featuring Houston homicide detective, Stuart Haydon, has been called by reviewers "one of the best suspense novels of all time"; and "a classic of the genre." Lindsey began working closely with the Houston Homicide Division for his research, and by the late 1980s Lindsey had written four Haydon novels.
In 1988 he changed directions and began extensive research for a novel that would become one of the first to be published about a then new criminal phenomenon, the serial killer. Published in 1990, "Mercy" became an international bestseller. In 1992 the German television network Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), featured Lindsey in an hour-long special program in their "Literature and Culture" series. "Mercy" was optioned for a feature film production, and remained under option for over a decade before it was finally filmed and premiered on HBO in April 2000.
In 1992 "Body of Truth", the fifth and last novel to feature Stuart Haydon, was published and won Germany's Bochumer Krimi Archiv award for the best suspense novel of the year. Lindsey turned to international settings with "Requiem for a Glass Heart" (1996) and "The Color of Night" (1999). The first novel dealt with international crime, while the second was set in the world of spies and international intelligence. "The Rules of Silence", Lindsey's twelfth novel was published in 2003, and was the first to be set in his home city, Austin. It was immediately bought outright by Universal Studios for a feature film production.
After publishing his thirteenth novel, Lindsey spent the next several years pursuing two large teleplay projects before his curiosity brought him back to novels in 2007. He began researching the astonishing rise of the government's outsourcing of national intelligence. Silently, and out of sight, privatized spying had become a multi-billion dollar industry in the years following 9/11. The industry's growth has been so explosive that private contractors now command over 70% of the nation's entire intelligence budget. Some of the corporations have become information industry giants with government contracts in the billions of dollars annually.
Lindsey thought this subject was tailor-made for long form fiction, but he soon realized that the story he wanted to tell was too large to be encompassed in a single volume. In 2011 Lindsey, writing under the pseudonym Paul Harper, published "Pacific Heights", the first volume in a serial novel featuring former intelligence officer Marten Fane. "Sorrow's Spy", the second volume in the Marten Fane Story serial novel will be published in 2012.
Lindsey researches and writes his novels in his library, which is adjacent to his home in Austin, Texas.
In 1988 he changed directions and began extensive research for a novel that would become one of the first to be published about a then new criminal phenomenon, the serial killer. Published in 1990, "Mercy" became an international bestseller. In 1992 the German television network Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), featured Lindsey in an hour-long special program in their "Literature and Culture" series. "Mercy" was optioned for a feature film production, and remained under option for over a decade before it was finally filmed and premiered on HBO in April 2000.
In 1992 "Body of Truth", the fifth and last novel to feature Stuart Haydon, was published and won Germany's Bochumer Krimi Archiv award for the best suspense novel of the year. Lindsey turned to international settings with "Requiem for a Glass Heart" (1996) and "The Color of Night" (1999). The first novel dealt with international crime, while the second was set in the world of spies and international intelligence. "The Rules of Silence", Lindsey's twelfth novel was published in 2003, and was the first to be set in his home city, Austin. It was immediately bought outright by Universal Studios for a feature film production.
After publishing his thirteenth novel, Lindsey spent the next several years pursuing two large teleplay projects before his curiosity brought him back to novels in 2007. He began researching the astonishing rise of the government's outsourcing of national intelligence. Silently, and out of sight, privatized spying had become a multi-billion dollar industry in the years following 9/11. The industry's growth has been so explosive that private contractors now command over 70% of the nation's entire intelligence budget. Some of the corporations have become information industry giants with government contracts in the billions of dollars annually.
Lindsey thought this subject was tailor-made for long form fiction, but he soon realized that the story he wanted to tell was too large to be encompassed in a single volume. In 2011 Lindsey, writing under the pseudonym Paul Harper, published "Pacific Heights", the first volume in a serial novel featuring former intelligence officer Marten Fane. "Sorrow's Spy", the second volume in the Marten Fane Story serial novel will be published in 2012.
Lindsey researches and writes his novels in his library, which is adjacent to his home in Austin, Texas.
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A refreshingly original and unique mystery thriller,
By A Customer
This review is from: Mercy (Paperback)
I didn't expect to be overwhelmed by this book, thinking it would be the typical albeit entertaining murder-mystery novel. Instead I encountered an exceedingly well written story with a warm, likeable protagonist and a plot that truly keeps you wondering until the last chapter. After reading this novel, I have since sought out and read all of Lindsey's novels. If you like a good, gory thriller, you have to read this book.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful, literate, disturbing work,
By Avid Reader (Franklin, Tn) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mercy (Paperback)
David Lindsey is one of the most underrated authors in the field today. His novels are always intelligent and interesting and most emerge from authentic FBI case histories. MERCY is not so much a routine who-dun-it mystery as an exploration of the psychology of fetishes and sex, particularly kinky sex - that is assuming one doesn't consider masochism, sadism, cross-dressing, and dominatrix luncheons slightly off.There is another story beneath the obvious one and that is the practice of such behavior within the confines of polite society. The "victimes" are upper-class women of a certain type - the country club, suburban, once-a-week therapist type. Lindsey has a real knack for looking at events through the eyes of the disturbed individual, again calling on his real-life experience (FBI profiling). The prose is rich and sweeping, the organization superb, the entire story always a little on edge. This is deeply disturbing novel but an important one.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mercy,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Mercy (Paperback)
I read Mercy a few years ago, as did my Mom and about 10 other women friends, and we all loved it, even though it was about certain things we had never been involved in, it is riveting. The best thing about this book is the main character, Carmen, whose life is as interesting in her personal life with the interplay with her Mother as is her exciting life in her job. David Lindsay, if you ever read these reviews, are you ever going to write a book with Carmen in it? I have waited years for a book with her in it. Please, let us hear from her again. Your writing is wonderful, but this book was really the one that women liked.
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