A Canvas of Flesh

Book excerpt: Former detective Alexander Dick receives a grisly and taunting invitation from the serial murderer the media calls Rembrandt. Five years earlier, Alec had investigated a series of Rembrandt murders in Kansas City with devastating results to his career and family. Now, Rembrandt has tracked him down in Dallas and taken up his macabre art in the night-life haunts of the city. Through the course of the investigation, Alec is provided with unique allies: Jennifer Wilson, a psychic sometimes engaged by the police in missing persons cases, and Michael Bennett, the singer and lyricist for a local heavy metal band, Brothers Grim. As Rembrandt begins claiming victims--young women stripped nude and painted with their own blood--Alec, Jennifer, and Michael must work together to try to catch Rembrandt before he kills again, a venture that hurtles them towards an inevitable encounter and a stunning conclusion.