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Diary of a Madman is a thriller about a serial killer, Ronnie Long, which
explores whether the origin of evil is nature or nurture. The reader explores
reality from the perspective of the killer’s eyes as she becomes a voyeur
into his life. Some would excuse Ronnie’s behavior as products of the
atrocities and relationships of his childhood, but those people would not
include the innocent women who begged for mercy as they died horrific deaths
in his hands. Ronnie would meet both those who would show him the love and
affection he lacked as a youth and those who would hunt him with the same
merciless rage. And in the end, a young teenage girl would be the only one
who could determine which of the adages held truer, that love conquered all,
or that hate consumes everything in its path.
– ˜
— ™ –
˜ —
Six years had passed since
Patrick Burke had watched impotently as he let Ronnie Long walk away with the
blood of his first love staining his hands. During those six years, Patrick carried
the burden of his guilt in silent solitude because he knew no one would
understand why he let Ronnie walk away free from his crimes. Patrick had
known that he was dealing with the devil in Ronnie Long, and he knew that
when you deal with the devil, you make vile concessions or succumb. Patrick had
learned these lessons fighting the demon of his youth – a fight he finally
won when he surrendered his autonomy and freed himself from his demon’s grasp
by playing by its rules.
Patrick accepted that he
could not change the atrocities Ronnie had already committed and bargained
his silence to save those still living from Ronnie’s fury. Though it would
have meant sacrificing his own life, Patrick would have preferred to forever
rid the world of Ronnie Long, but he could not risk the lives of those around
him or forget his debt to Ronnie for his help in destroying his childhood
demon. So Patrick had resigned himself to the fact that if Ronnie Long was
to be subdued, he would have to be imprisoned behind Patrick’s silence.
And it had been a good compromise.
During those years, Patrick had paid his penance for Ronnie’s crimes, had
helped so many less fortunate than he, and had even begun to celebrate life
as never before. But that celebration and this false security died when Patrick’s
past found him and led Ronnie back with a renewed blood lust and an even
heartier appetite for destruction.
On hallowed ground,
Patrick’s worst nightmare would once again return to flex his muscles and to
challenge Patrick to his deadly game. Patrick feared Ronnie, and never
before had the courage to break free of his grasp, but this time, Patrick was
not alone. He had the support of his teenage neighbor Aimee Del Priore, who
would rise above her own demons to unravel the origins of Ronnie’s evil, and
his true love, Isabel Castile, whose purity and understanding gave Patrick
the strength and courage he lacked. Together, Aimee and Isabel held the key
to unlocking the horrors of Patrick’s past and ensuring that this would be
the last chapter in the Diary of a Madman.
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