Bad Karma [NOOK Book]

"A sleek, smooth and constantly surprising page-turner..."* Bad Karma is a fast-paced, full-length suspense thriller of heart-pounding terror and dark reincarnation from award-winning and New York Times bestselling novelist, Douglas Clegg.

For fans of James Patterson, Jonathan Kellerman and Thomas Harris.

This is the first book in the Criminally Insane series.

Originally published in hardcover and paperback under Clegg's pen name, Andrew Harper, this is Bad Karma's 1st digital edition.

Agnes Hatcher is beautiful -- and deadly. She is known as the Gorgon, for her intense stare; and also The Surgeon, for the style of murders she committed.

Incarcerated, she wants out -- now. She'll do anything to find her beloved -- and show him the disturbing visions of his past life, linking them back to one of the most terrifying and mysterious murderers the world has ever known.

"Douglas Clegg knows exactly what scares us, and he knows just how to twist those fears into hair-raising chills..." - Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of the Rizzoli & Isles series.

The Darden State Hospital for Criminal Justice is taking its toll on Trey Campbell, a psych tech who who works with sociopathic criminals.

His dreams are filled with the sight of their dead eyes, by the sound of their anguished screams. He is haunted by images of blood-stained uniforms, broken bodies, and broken minds.

"You shouldn't have left me alone," she whispers.

"Clegg's stories can chill the spine so effectively that the reader should keep paramedics on standby."
-- Dean Koontz

Between the jagged cliffs of San Pedro and the crystal blue waters off Catalina Island there is nothing but peace and isolation.

For Trey, his wife, and their two children, it is just the sanctuary they need.

For two weeks, life will be good. Better than good. And the best part is no one will be able to find them...

"I will not be ignored."

Once, Agnes Hatcher was a suburban school teacher, a member of the Junior League and a subscriber to the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

She also had a fondness for knives that earned her the nickname, the Surgeon.

Today she is the most brilliant and brutal psychopath at Darden State.

In her twisted fantasy life she shares an unbreakable karma with the man she believes to be her devoted lover.

But this weekend Trey has abandoned her. And Agnes is feeling very unforgiving.

"I'm coming for you."

Now darkness has fallen on the Campbells' isolated vacation retreat. A diabolical game of wits is about to begin. Because what Agnes has planned for Trey and his family is beyond anything any of them can imagine...

* " Take a mental hospital, a weary psychiatrist suffering from nightmares he doesn't understand, and a killer as chilling as they come, and you've got a sleek, smooth, and constantly surprising page-turner. Reminds me of a very hip Robert Bloch." —Ed Gorman

Author Note: There are three books in the Criminally Insane series - Bad Karma, Red Angel and Night Cage.

Look for other books (fiction) by Douglas Clegg from Alkemara Press, including:

Afterlife
Goat Dance
Purity
Dark of the Eye
The Words
Wild Things
The Criminally Insane Series:
Bad Karma
Red Angel
Night Cage
The Harrow Series:
Nightmare House
Mischief
The Infinite
The Abandoned
The Hour Before Dark
You Come When I Call You
Naomi
The Nightmare Chronicles
The Attraction

With more to come…

"Clegg is the best horror writer of the post-Stephen King generation."
-- Bentley Little, author of The Policy



Tags: thriller, suspense, horror, reincarnation, psychological, psychiatric, murder, crime, terror, Jack the Ripper, Catalina, California, hospital, medical, prison.