Kiss of Evil

April 9, 2001
As twisted and gory as Montanari's previous two suspense outings (The Violet Hour; Deviant Way), this no-holds-barred thriller once again features Cleveland homicide detective Jack Paris, this time pitted against a man who mutilates and dismembers his victims, then marks them with the symbol of a dark branch of the Afro-Caribbean religion Santeria. Though each murder is as savage as the next—one victim is castrated, another scalped, another disemboweled—there is little to connect them in terms of motive. As Paris's investigation flounders, he uncovers a possible link to the murder of Det. Michael Ryan two years earlier. The fashion model accused of killing Ryan was acquitted of the crime and later committed suicide, but Paris is convinced she was guilty and believes she may have something to do with the man the press is calling the "voodoo killer." Among Ryan's possessions, a handwritten note—"Evil is a breed"—points to the dark history of the killer, revealed in flashbacks and culminating in a grotesque torture scene that mimics the ravenous swine episode in Thomas Harris's Hannibal. As the body count rises and the chameleonesque murderer threatens Paris personally, a sinister tale of delayed revenge emerges. Only by plunging deep into the sexually charged depths of his gruesome case does Paris get a grip on a solution. Those with a yen for viscera and violence will appreciate Montanari's scalpel-like narrative skills.