The Mask of Sanity

Jacob M. Appel

Permanent Press Hardcover $28 (256pp) 978-1-57962-495-8

This isn’t a character trying to overcome his demons, but one fully in league with them.

In The Mask of Sanity, Jacob Appel delves into the mind of a murderer as he plots his version of the perfect crime. Upon learning that his wife is sleeping with one of his colleagues, Dr. Jeremy Balint decides to kill his rival—and to become a serial killer in order to hide his motive. Like its protagonist, the book is tightly focused on the crime, featuring lots of attention to detail and elaborate schemes to keep the outcome unclear.

Because Balint discovers the affair at the very beginning of the story, it is his plan and its execution that dominate the remaining narrative. He meticulously researches the mistakes made by serial killers who got caught, and he plans steps such as how many random victims to kill before and after his real target, and what calling card to use to tie the murders together. Appel