Measure of Vengeance
By Jerry Jellison
Write Way Publishing. 2000. $24.95.

This mystery thriller spins around one of those serial killer plots in which the killer sends messages about his plans to someone in a position to examine such clues. In this case, his clues arrive in the form of a manuscript submitted to the editor of a New York-based publishing house. Later he sends chapters to the police detective investigating the murders.

The plot is indeed suspenseful, but the book is over-written in a self-conscious style. The writing of the anonymous author is likewise heavy-handed, and the methods the killer uses to dispose of numerous attractive young women are so grisly as to appear ludicrous. As expected, the series of murders takes on a personal tone for both the editor and the police lieutenant.