The Horrorscope Manuscript

Book excerpt: In an effort to cope with the death of his wife, Scott Theisen resumes his passion for writing by reviving a manuscript he started before his marriage to Patricia. The novel is written in the genre of nonfiction a la Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. It tells the story of the search for an active serial killer, dubbed The Horrorscope Killer, who has been killing women on the dates of the zodiac cusps. Scott meticulously researches the murders, finishes his manuscript, sends out queries, and gets a response from literary agent Lindsay Hangton, who requests a hardcopy of the manuscript. But the manuscript disappears, along with all his electronic and hard copies. Desperate to recover the manuscript, he tracks Lindsay, who is headed to her cabin in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Lindsay’s boss, the owner of Mantis Literary Agency, also has an obsessive interest in the manuscript. Scott and Lindsay meet at a local Indian casino and become romantically involved. As their relationship becomes more intense, they focus on preserving the manuscript and revealing the identity of the serial killer. The fate of all three lives culminates in Lindsay’s cabin as the search for the missing manuscript finally ends in a surprising twist—one of many in this intriguing novel of suspense.