Holding Back the Dark: Synopsis

The man has been executed and posed; his hands and feet nailed to the floor crucifixion-style. The woman has been sexually assaulted, disemboweled and decapitated.

Acting Sheriff Bill Lattimore and Homicide Sergeant Reggie Nelson are joined by FBI Special Agent and profiler, Charlotte Rhodes, to pursue a killer who slices his way ever more cruelly and frantically through multiple victims during the weeks and months following the initial murders in Las Vegas.

Complicating their urgent search – the details of the first murder cannot be made public. The couple was in the Witness Protection Program. This is only one of many challenges that must be overcome in the hunt for the Las Vegas Slasher, including the revival of the Strip Serial Killer.

Lattimore has reason to believe that a prominent member of the legal community might be a “person of interest” in the cold case of the Strip Serial Killer who haunted the city years earlier and was never apprehended. He enlists Special Agent Rhodes to confirm his suspicions.

During the course of these investigations, Lattimore, Rhodes and Nelson discover a subterranean torture chamber that could explain the disappearance of at least ten girls. They also have to ask if this could be the den of the Slasher.

As the bodies pile one atop the other, the opinion leaders and politicians in Las Vegas, using the fear and concern created, sculpt a political environment to advance their interests. In the unique environment of Sin City, these men apply their power and influence to promote certain aspects of the investigation, and derail progress when it threatens to reveal their relationships with some of the dangerous players.

While the carnage rages, Lattimore and Rhodes struggle to maintain their sanity and remain emotionally distant from all that swirls around them. They medicate with alcohol, pills and sex.

Holding Back the Dark is a chilling tale of evil on multiple levels. The details of the crimes and aberrant behavior of the fictional serial killers are informed by the lives and deeds of real-life perpetrators, including some of the most diabolical in American history. The novel is also meticulously researched to paint authentic portraits of the men and women who struggle to “hold back the night” and protect us from the worst of the worst.

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