Now Out!
The Case of the Choirboy Killer (A Mark Julian, Vampire P.I.
Mystery)
Author: L.G. Fabbo-Gonnella
Series: Mark Julian, Vampire P.I. Book One
Genre: Paranormal, M/M, Gay Romance, Gay Fiction, Mystery
and Detective, Dark Urban Fantasy
Imprint: Ai Press
Length: Novel
eISBN: 978-1-937796-68-6
Flame rating: 2 flames- Stories will have some love
scenes. These will be more sensual then graphic and will mostly rely on
euphemism.
Cover design: Les Byerley
Cover photo courtesy
of Christian Campbell
Cover model: Jacopo
Rampini
Mark Julian is New York’s only private
eye for the supernatural. He has a job to do, one that includes not getting
romantically involved with humans. Until a feeding frenzy on gay men crosses
his path with irresistible Detective Vincent Pasquale of the NYPD. The
paranormal world is about to collide with the human world, in more ways than
one…
The city is being hit by a wave of
killings where the victims share two things in common: 1) they are gay and, 2)
they have been drained of blood. The press is having a field day using a
witness’ description to label him as “the choirboy killer” and the gay
community is up in arms. Worse the local vampire council is convinced the
killer one of their own who has gone rogue and is intentionally committing
these activities as an affront the entire undead community. “I mean we just
don’t act this way here,” sniffed the head of the council, “I mean this is New
York City after all!”
The council goes to the only person from
their community who they think can find the killer and end his reign. Mark
Julian, like themselves a vampire, and New York’s only private eye for the
supernatural world. With the help of his secretary Jaime, an incubus-succubus
changeling sex demon he begins the hunt. His only major problem is that one of
New York’s finest is also on the trail of the fiend who is dispatching the
city’s citizens. When hunky detective Vincent Pasquale and Julian cross paths
the gay detective finds the well-built handsome law officer is not only
impeding his quiet search but also, for the first time in centuries, getting
him heated up as well. Will they join forces or will one of them fall victim to
the sensational choirboy killer?
Bonus Feature: The Curious Case of the
Runaway Incubus
Excerpt:
“He looked like a damned
choirboy,” Detective Vincenzo Pasquale swore as he reviewed his notes. “All I
get from my only witness is that he looked like a choirboy!” The detective ran
one of his hands through the dark hairs on his head in frustration. He needed
more useful information, and he needed it fast. He thought about the murder. It
had received extensive press coverage with it being pride week and, even more
critically, with a gay victim! The media and the gay community were already
screaming bias crime. It was clear the murderer had picked up his victim at a
gay club. Now many, without any foundation, were insisting that the killer had
to have been a straight man that had merely “posed” as gay to lure in his
target. Worse yet, someone in the department, or more likely the mayor’s
office, had leaked the suspect’s description to members of New York’s
overheated press. Always ready to stir the pot to increase their circulation in
an ever-diminishing market of print readers, the media had jumped in with both
feet. The press’s headlines quickly dubbed him the choirboy killer. “That is
just what this sicko needs, a freaking name that will stroke his ego,” the
good-looking detective grumbled to himself.
“Damn,” he sighed as he
shifted his toned and muscled body in his chair. At thirty years of age, the
muscular, six foot one inch law officer was the very opposite of the
stereotypical detective. In the minds of the public, detectives were a bunch of
sedentary and overfed middle-aged cops who dressed in suits while getting fat
sitting at their desks reading reports. In John Q. Public’s eyes they all were
merely waiting for their pensions to fill out sufficiently, then retire.
Vinnie glanced at the
picture of his fiancé that sat on his cluttered desk, looking for comfort from
the image of the perky, fair-haired girl whom he had recently proposed to.
Terry and Vinnie had met while he was a student at the John Jay College of
Criminal Justice in Manhattan. She was a first year schoolteacher at the local
high school that was just up the street from the college. One day after his
classes he had literally bumped into her as he raced to answer a call from his
precinct. They had dated off and on, but things had gotten serious between them
in the last year. Vincenzo, known as Vinnie to everyone but his mother on
Staten Island, had finally asked Terry to marry him. He had done so prompted
not only by his mother but also by the fact he had now entered his thirties. As
his mother kept telling him, it was that time of life when a man ought to
settle down and bring a flock of new Pasquales into the world. Terry, being a
Lutheran of Swedish descent and also three years older than Mrs. Pasquale’s
“beloved Vincenzo,” had not initially endeared herself to Vinnie’s
traditionally minded Roman Catholic, Italian mother. Over time, however, Terry
had been accepted not only into the vast clan Vinnie referred to jokingly as la mia famiglia but also by his mother.
Her future mother-in-law had instantly warmed up to their engagement when Terry
confessed that secretly she wanted at least four and possibly five children. So
things now were comfortably set for him. If Terry never inspired a grand
passion in Vinnie, at least, as he figured it, they got along well.
Vinnie looked at his
notes then sighed in disgust. He reached across his cluttered desk to pick up
his phone. Grimacing, he held the phone, dreading Terry’s reaction when he
cancelled yet again another dinner at her apartment. Though Terry tried to
understand Vinnie’s job and its time demands, recently her frustration levels seemed
to have grown. Vinnie, who was now considered one of the best in the squad,
increasingly found himself being assigned the department’s most complex or
sensitive cases. Finally he heard Terry pick up the phone.
“Don’t tell me you have
to work,” Terry said without waiting for Vinnie to say anything first. “Again, right?” She continued using a
tone of voice that reflected a mixture of both annoyance and dissatisfaction.
“How did you know it was
me?” Vinnie asked in a casual tone, hoping to deflect the coming storm for just
a minute more. Vinnie hated these scenes that seemed to be happening more often
between them as the scope of his job assignments grew. Even their times
together were affected by this tension over his long hours. As for the effects
on his love life, sex with Terry had always been perfunctory, rather uninspired,
and usually without any real heat.
“Caller ID, Vinnie. What
else and why else would you call if not to cancel…yet again?” she answered
sharply.
“Look, honey, I’m stuck
on this new case, and the press guys are on my ass or soon will be. Plus…” he
heard the clicking sound on the phone line and the familiar dial tone coming
from his receiver. Terry had not only cut him off in mid-sentence, but her
reaction spoke volumes on how “understanding” she had become about his current
job predicament. “Son of a…” Vinnie groaned as he picked up the official
autopsy report, hoping to discover something he’d missed that might provide a
lead. Like all reports, this one blandly recited the bare facts of the
“opening” (as autopsies were sometimes called by jokers in the law community).
Labeling them in this way had the effect of dehumanizing someone who had once been
a living human being. It gave the detectives the emotional distance to
effectively do their work and, more importantly, to do it objectively. Like all autopsy reports, it’s facts, while
valuable, were simply laid out in a terse manner.
Victim is a
well-nourished white male, approximately late twenties to early thirties. The
body had has bruising in each of the wrist areas, probably as a result of being
bound tightly such as to render the victim incapable of using the limbs of his
upper body. The impression marks on the surface skin would at first indicate
that it was another pair of hands that held the victim’s wrists, but the depth
of the underlying tissue damage in those areas was is massive. Injuries of this
nature indicates immense pressure which is not consistent with human hands
since they are not capable of such directed, powerful, and sustained
restraints.
The victim’s back has
a large, irregular bruise across the upper shoulder area that points to his
being thrust up against some flat surface. It is impossible to ascertain what
said surface was at this time.
Tearing around the
carotid artery in the neck makes it certain that the victim died of
exsanguination. The crime scene, however, showed no blood other than some
residue stains consisting of droplets. It is therefore probable that another
place may have been the location of the homicide. As a final observation, it
should be noted that the body was expertly drained of blood in a manner
impossible to determine at the present time.
“Sick bastard,” Vinnie
thought as the phone rang on his desk. He picked it up hoping it was Terry but
instead he heard the voice of his supervising lieutenant.
“Vinnie, it just cadehumanizing someone who had once been a living human being. It gave the detectives the emotional distance to effectively do their work and, more importantly, to do it objectively. Like all autopsy reports, it’s facts, while valuable, were simply laid out in a terse manner.
me in
on the radio. There was another homicide using the same M.O. as our choirboy
killer. This time we have two, possibly three, victims done at the same place,”
his gruff voice barked.
Victim is a well-nourished white male, approximately late twenties to early thirties. The body had has bruising in each of the wrist areas, probably as a result of being bound tightly such as to render the victim incapable of using the limbs of his upper body. The impression marks on the surface skin would at first indicate that it was another pair of hands that held the victim’s wrists, but the depth of the underlying tissue damage in those areas was is massive. Injuries of this nature indicates immense pressure which is not consistent with human hands since they are not capable of such directed, powerful, and sustained restraints.
The victim’s back has a large, irregular bruise across the upper shoulder area that points to his being thrust up against some flat surface. It is impossible to ascertain what said surface was at this time.
Tearing around the carotid artery in the neck makes it certain that the victim died of exsanguination. The crime scene, however, showed no blood other than some residue stains consisting of droplets. It is therefore probable that another place may have been the location of the homicide. As a final observation, it should be noted that the body was expertly drained of blood in a manner impossible to determine at the present time.
“Sick bastard,” Vinnie thought as the phone rang on his desk. He picked it up hoping it was Terry but instead he heard the voice of his supervising lieutenant.
“Vinnie, it just came in on the radio. There was another homicide using the same M.O. as our choirboy killer. This time we have two, possibly three, victims done at the same place,” his gruff voice barked.
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