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Summary
Summary
"Spine-tingling" said the New York Times of William Diehl's Primal Fear, the national bestseller about brilliant defense attorney Martin Vail and the psychotic murderer he saves from execution. Now, in Diehl's spellbinding new novel, Vail has become Chicago's chief prosecutor, the man with the power to tear down enemies in high places. But he must also confront his worst legal nightmare--a nightmare that he, himself, helped to create. It begins with a shocking, unsolved murder: a young mother named Linda Balfour is butchered in a small town in southern Illinois, and no one can turn up a single lead. But then, months later, a tiny crack opens up in the case. By a stroke of pure chance, an investigator in the Chicago D.A.'s office discovers that Linda Balfour died with a coded inscription printed in blood on the back of her head. It is the exact combination of letters and numbers that was found on the head of Bishop Rushman, the beloved Chicago clergyman who had been slashed and dismembered years before by an angelic-looking altar boy named Aaron Stampler. The same Aaron Stampler whom Vail saved from the electric chair. For the past ten years, Stampler has been locked away in a high security institution for the criminally insane, with no access to the outside world. So how could he have killed Linda Belfour? And then another altar boy turns up dead--with a similar inscription in blood on the back of his head. If Aaron Stampler isn't committing these killings, who is? Martin Vail's career--maybe even his life--hangs in the balance.... In one bestseller after another, William Diehl has dazzled readers and critics with his riveting plots. But nothing Diehl has written before will prepare his fans for the explosive suspense of Show of Evil. Filled with unforgettable characters, crackling with the energy and hustle of Chicago, shocking in its insights into the mind of a psychotic killer, Show of Evil is Diehl at the peak of his powers.
Author Notes
William Francis Diehl was born in Jamaica, New York on December 4, 1924. During World War II, he served as a ball turret gunner on a B-24 Liberator where he flew 24 missions over Germany. He was the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, and Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. He received a B.A. in creative writing and history from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1949.
He began his writing career in 1949 at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he served as a writer, photojournalist and editor. Additionally, he worked as a freelance photographer and an actor. His articles have appeared in Esquire, Life, Look, and New York.
He started writing his first novel, Sharky's Machine, while serving as a juror. The novel was published in 1978 and was later made into a movie. His other works include Chameleon, Hooligans, The Horse, Show of Evil, Reign in Hell, and Eureka. His novel, Primal Fear, also became a movie. He died of aortic embolism on November 24, 2006. His last work, Seven Ways to Die, was completed by Kenneth Atchity and published in 2012.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this sequel to Diehl's Primal Fear, an incarcerated serial killer's enemies begin meeting grisly deaths. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Diehl expertly juggles three murder investigations in a high- octane legal thriller, his follow-up to Primal Fear (1992). Martin Vail is back, still a hotshot lawyer with a big mouth, though he's given up being a defense attorney to take the number- two position in the Chicago DA's office. Vail and his team of young, aggressive lawyers take on a man they're sure has murdered his wife, in spite of a very tight self-defense alibi. Meanwhile, the local Democratic Party boss is slain, and the prime suspect is all too willing to admit her guilt, until Jane Venable--Vail's former opponent and now his lover--takes up the defense. Interwoven with these investigations is the meat of the novel: a series of psychopathic killings. Clues abound, including a code written in blood on each victim's skull. But all the evidence points to Aaron Stampler--who has been locked in a maximum-security mental institution for the last decade. Vail defended Stampler in Primal Fear and plea-bargained him (via a multiple-personality disorder) into a psychiatric hospital to avoid the death penalty. Now, Vail is convinced that Stampler's multiple personalities are a hoax. His psychiatrist, though, judges the inmate cured and releases him- -allowing Stampler to go after everyone who helped put him away. While developments after Stampler's release can be predictable, Diehl usually keeps readers off-balance and wondering. But the hero-worship shtick Vail's associates direct at him gets embarrassing--especially after the twelfth time. Will score no points with the mental-health community, which looks smug, stupid and flat-out dangerous thanks to one Dr. Woodward, but a tense and often scary read for the rest of us. (First printing of 100,000)
Booklist Review
Martin Vail, formerly one of the most successful defense lawyers in Chicago, saved psychotic murderer Aaron Stampler from a death sentence. Ten years later, he has become the leading prosecutor in the D.A.'s office, where he and his group of young lawyers, dubbed the Wild Bunch by the media, become mesmerized by a string of murders that seems to have a common thread--a similarity that frightens Vail because it involves Stampler. Ironically, it is Jane Venable, the unsuccessful prosecutor in the Stampler case, whom Vail enlists to help unravel the complicated, gruesome details. A nice respite amid the gore is the relationship that develops between the two middle-aged attorneys who worked too hard to ever fall in love. From a legal perspective, Show of Evil is impressive in its accuracies and procedural details (in fact, State v. O. J. fans will find informative background information here). From a dramatic perspective, though, Diehl tries to cover too much territory; rather than sticking to the main whodunit, there are minimysteries throughout. Still, this is an exciting thriller that should keep crime fiction readers asking for more. (Reviewed Apr. 15, 1995)0345375351Mary Frances Wilkens
Library Journal Review
Diehl, the author of previous hits Chameleon (1982) and Sharky's Machine (1978), has the makings of another best seller here. Defense attorney-turned-district attorney Martin Vail comes to regret having saved a murderer, Aaron Stampler, from the death penalty; Stampler wasn't suffering from multiple personality disorder but was merely a vicious killer who has many more scores to settle. When Stampler proves smart enough to convince an egotistical psychiatrist that he is now sane and can return to society, Vail has to out-think him to save not only his own life but the lives of everyone who contributed to the killer's ten years in a mental institution. The action is gripping, and the characters are well drawn. Buy for suspense collections and for Diehl's established fans. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/95.]-Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.