CHARACTERS
Smokey aka Clarence Montgomery-Black wino who finds the body of Bella Louise.
Bella Louise Robbins-Local poke and hop head and victim of the Hacker.
Marvin Hanson-Police lieutenant investigating the murders. He is 5�10� and called Gorilla by his 3 close friends. After the evemts of this book Marvin moves a few miles north and meets up with Hap and Leonard and becomes a character in most of their books.
Rachel-His wife
JoAnna-His daughter.
Joe Clark-Marvin�s partner, divorced from his wife Peggy and for a while Marv suspects that he could be the Hacker.
Doc Warren-Houston medical examiner who has an interest in necrophilia. He call the autopsy room the slicing room and he bumps his head quite often on the scale.
Higgins-Original investigating officer.
Evan-Marv�s brother who had been a boxer, Bubba the Kid Hanson. He was killed by a teenager for three dollars and forty seven cents.
Mary-JoAnna�s friend.
Tommy Ray Evans-JoAnna�s boyfriend.
Phillip Barlowe-Reported for Houston Bugle.
James McBain-Cook in an all night Jack-In-The-Box whose car was stolen and used to transport Bella�s body.
The Houston Hacker-Serial killer who likes to eat part of each victim.
Doris Johnston-First love of the Hacker. She was killed in a car accident. The Hacker dug up and desecrated her body, stole the head and kept it buried where he could get at it for some more terrible acts.
Evelyn DeMarka-Student and another victim.
Frank Callahan-Evelyn�s boyfriend;
Mildred Cofey-Apartment manager.
Sharon Carson-Bugle receptionist.
James Milo-Evidence officer.
Juanita-Warren�s wife.
Patricia Quentin-Another victim.
Roger-Her ex boyfriend.
Fierd-Pasadena police sergeant.
Dr. Bran-Family doctor.
Captain Fredricks-Marv�s captain.
Raul Martinez and Mitchell-Police detectives assigned to guard Hanson�s family.
Cramer-Mitchell�s partner.
FACTS
The Fifth Ward ghetto off Lyon�s Avenue (Soul Street) and Jensen is called Pearl Harbor. You don�t go there unless you want to commit suicide or want to get cut from ear to ear.
The Hacker uses a bayonet in his crimes.
He drinks the blood of his victims and fries the flesh.
One of the victims was described as a grotesque chocolate and cherry pudding of death.
Marvin and his family live in Pasadena, Texas, a suburb of Houston. It is nicknamed Stinkadena. Marv�s grandfather had a farm near Tyler and Marv inherited it. He wants to go back there and open the farm again. A couple of his books are Raymond Chandler�s The Big Sleep and The Glory of the Hummingbird by DeVries.
Doc Warren has a lot of Ed McBain�s 87th Precinct mysteries along with Hemingway, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald.
There is a mention that the Boston Strangler was not caught, that the man arrested was not the culprit.
Rachel gets a nail driven through her hand into a wall. This is similar to a scene in Savage Season.
QUOTES
He read until the words rode each other piggy back.
Fear moved inside his brain like a lizard on a hot rock.
It doesn�t take more than one turd in the toilet to stink the place up.
PLOT
The Houston area is being terrorized by a vicious killer. Marvin Hanson is investigating the case and it becomes very personal to him. The killer takes it personal, too, and goes after Marvin�s family.
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