Richard Montanari
Richard Montanari was born and raised on the West side of Cleveland before he relocated to an East side Cleveland suburb where he writes powerfully disturbing stories of serial killers and the detectives that hunt them. His stories cross the genres of mystery, thrillers and horror.
Title List | Links | Series Page | Ohio Connection
 The Devil’s Garden |
The Devil’s GardenAuthor: Montanari, Richard |
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No summary available — not yet announced. All information is subject to change. This is not part of the Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano Thriller series. |
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 Badlands  |
Badlands (The Philadelphia Series #4)Author: Montanari, Richard |
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In each soul, a secret . . . Philadelphia homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano’s first assignment from the Cold Case files is the brutal murder of a young runaway. The lifeless body of Caitlin O’Riordan was found carefully posed in a glass display case in the desolate Philadelphia Badlands but, as Byrne and Balzano rapidly discover, she was just the first pawn in the killer’s twisted game . . . A mysterious phone call leads them on a scavenger hunt for a second victim. This time a young girl has been dismembered, her body parts left in three boxes in the basement of a deserted house. More clues lead to other victims and, as the body count rises, it becomes clear that there is a serial killer on the loose, hell-bent on completing the “performance” of a lifetime. As more runaways vanish, Byrne and Balzano come to realize that the homicidal mastermind plans to complete seven depraved tricks in his dark and dangerous magic act. With Balzano increasingly obsessed by a case that haunts her, and Byrne struggling with a loss of his own, the stakes are mounting. But this is one game they can’t afford to lose . . . |
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 Merciless  |
Merciless (The Philadelphia Series #3)Author: Montanari, Richard |
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 Merciless  |
Merciless (The Philadelphia Series #3)Author: Montanari, Richard |
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When the first body is found, mutilated and strangled on the riverbank, homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano suspect yet another case of random urban violence. Until it happens again. And again. One by one, women are lured to the old Schuylkill River, their violent and increasingly staged deaths the only clues to the killer’s twisted imagination. All are wearing oddly old-fashioned dresses, holding a prop of some kind. And each one seems to have a story to tell, speaking of nightmares that are not just the stuff of fairy tales . . . Desperately, Byrne and Balzano try to uncover the fragile link between the murders, until they realise they are up against two different kinds of evil. A ruthless killer is preying upon the citizens of Philadelphia. And someone else is killing the suspects. |
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 The Skin Gods  |
The Skin Gods (The Philadelphia Series #2)Author: Montanari, Richard |
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 The Skin Gods  |
The Skin Gods (The Philadelphia Series #2)Author: Montanari, Richard |
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From the Editors of Barnes and Noble: Videotaped footage of the reenacted murders begins showing up, spliced into rental videos that have been stolen from and then replaced in independent video stores, and Byrne and Balzano — who are both dealing with life-changing issues — must somehow track down an ingenious madman dubbed the Actor, a man of a thousand guises, skilled in the arts of dialect and stage movement. Byrne, who is recovering from a near-fatal gunshot wound to the head, and Balzano, who is struggling with a crumbling marriage, follow a meandering evidence trail that leads them through seedy no-tell motels, big-budget movie sets, the subterranean realm of fetishist pornographers, and, eventually, the stuff of their worst nightmares . . . Montanari’s newest thriller — arguably his most thematically explosive work to date — not only examines humanity’s dark side, it wallows in it. From masochism to misogyny and slavery to sadism, this blood-splattered journey through the underbelly of the motion picture industry is as repulsive as it is riveting. Antibacterial soap not included. |
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 The Rosary Girls  |
The Rosary Girls (The Philadelphia Series #1)Author: Montanari, Richard |
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 The Rosary Girls  |
The Rosary Girls (The Philadelphia Series #1)Author: Montanari, Richard |
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From the Editors of Barnes and Noble: Kevin Byrne has years of experience with the Philadelphia Homicide Unit, a reputation for working a case for as long as it takes to solve it, and a nasty gift that sometimes gives him a vision of the perp he’s after. Now that his longtime partner is sidelined by a heart attack, he has someone new riding shotgun, and it remains to be seen how she’ll deal with his less-than-orthodox methods. At least Jessica Balzano is no rookie detective . . . but three years of experience in Auto isn’t the same as a stint in Homicide. But as Kevin sees it, she’s earned her chance to prove herself. She’s as eager as he is for a case that will push her to the limit and beyond. Jessica doesn’t expect to get her big break the first day out, but that’s what happens when she and Kevin are called to the scene of the murder of a parochial school student. The dead girl, clasping a rosary, has been mutilated in a way that shocks even the hardened medical examiner. And when a second teen’s body is discovered and a task force is formed, Jessica is determined to make sure that she stays on the case. And if that means going the extra mile and risking her own life and sanity by immersing herself in the dark, dangerous mind of a serial killer, that’s what she’ll do to close the case of the Rosary Girls. |
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 Kiss of Evil  |
Kiss of Evil (The Cleveland Series #2)Author: Montanari, Richard |
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 Kiss of Evil  |
Kiss of Evil (The Cleveland Series #2)Author: Montanari, Richard |
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Detective Michael Ryan died in Cleveland’s Renaissance Hotel two years ago, murdered with his own weapon. A stunning fashion model was accused of the crime, then cleared — leaving a good cop’s name forever tainted by these damning words: corruption, greed, and betrayal. Since that time homicide detective John Salvatore Paris has worked long and hard to salvage his good friend Mike Ryan’s reputation, but with no success. Now the beautiful suspect who walked away has perished in a fiery suicide. The circle is closed. But the rash of brutal slayings that is rocking Paris’s city suggest otherwise. The plague of terror and ritual sacrifice is savage enough to shatter even the most street-hardened cop’s faith in justice and a rational world. Each murder is different, yet equally horrific. The street hustler, the suburban career woman, the dealer in religious artifacts — the only evidence connecting these victims is a strange symbol carved into their flesh. And, perhaps, one name: Michael Ryan. |
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The Violet Hour  |
The Violet HourAuthor: Montanari, Richard |
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 The Violet Hour  |
The Violet Hour: A Novel of SuspenseAuthor: Montanari, Richard |
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A popular priest lies dead of a heroin overdose in a Cleveland apartment, following an apparent tryst with a high-priced callgirl. Nick Stella knew the man, and he knows salable news when he finds it. But there is something waiting for the struggling freelance journalist on the dead cleric’s e-mail that suggests this is not just another sordid case of fatal human frailty. A clue, a warning, a threat in the words of a great poet cries out that this was no accident. And it’s beckoning Nick into the mind of a psychopath, a twisted serial killer who is out for revenge. He’s going to keep dispensing his own unique brand of poetic justice — killing all who attended an elite Halloween party 20 years ago — unless one of his targets can stop his reign of terror. In an affluent Ohio suburb a world away, Amelia Saintsbury’s computer screen carries the same cryptic message. Someone is watching her . . . and waiting. A nightmare stands just outside her door, ready to devour everything and everyone she cares about — her life, her home, her wayward husband, her innocent little girl — uniting Amelia and an unorthodox city reporter in a desperate hunt for a killer. |
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 Deviant Way  |
Deviant Way (The Cleveland Series #1)Author: Montanari, Richard |
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 Deviant Way  |
Deviant Way (The Cleveland Series #1)Author: Montanari, Richard |
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Something has come over Andrea Heller. After seven years of marriage to her voyeur husband, Matt, it seems she has a few ideas of her own. Like calling herself Abigail. And dressing a little sexier. And sitting on the other side of the bar, pretending to be single. And watching what happens. . . But there’s another couple watching, too. They call themselves Saila and Pharaoh, but only after sundown. And it is after sundown that some terrible things are happening in the singles clubs in Cleveland. In six months, three women in their twenties have been found brutally murdered — their flower tattoos so unceremoniously removed. And each step that homicide detective Jack Paris takes to bring the madness to an end takes him closer to the heart of his own forbidden impulses, and nearer the understanding that no one — not the man standing next to him at the precinct, nor the woman in his bed — is who he or she appears to be. When Paris ultimately discovers the terrifying secrets of The Swing Set, and the stakes become personal, he comes to know one certainty: to enter the minds of Saila and Pharaoh is to enter a world from which no one ever fully returns. |
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Summary:
Title List:
1. Deviant Way
2. The Violet Hour
3. Kiss of Evil
4. The Rosary Girls
5. The Skin Gods
6. Merciless
7. Badlands
8. The Devil’s Garden
Title List: The Cleveland Series
1. Deviant Way
2. Kiss of Evil
Title List: The Philadelphia Series
1. The Rosary Girls
2. The Skin Gods
3. Merciless
4. Badlands
Weblinks Lists:
Richard Montanari — Official Website
Richard Montanari: Fear the Next Page (UK)
Series Page Links:
The Cleveland Series
Ohio Connection:
Richard Montanari was born and lives in the Cleveland area.
Popularity: 2% [?]
