Drowning in dark humor, Unknown Female delivers a powerful jolt to the crime
thriller and Southern Gothic genres.
Forensic artist Marx Thoreau admires the corpse of a young woman found near
a haunted barn that once belonged to his father, infamous serial killer Donald
Bath. The year is 1976, and the small town of Stonewall seethes with superstition
and paranoia.
Marx is struck by the cadaver’s appearance, which has earned her the nickname
“Sleeping Beauty,” partly because she doesn't decay. He can imagine no greater
pleasure than a night alone with her. Physical and psychological abuse has
twisted this talented artist into a hollow creature who struggles with an inner
necrophiliac and killer. These dark urges haunt his art and creep into his
dreams, but he secretly hopes that solving the Sleeping Beauty’s murder will
somehow free him of his past. Meanwhile, he does his best to behave.
As Marx learns more about the eerie circumstances surrounding the Sleeping
Beauty's death, he also develops conflicting feelings for an alluring but eccentric
young woman named Maple, who has her own troubling secrets. She might be
his salvation, or his greatest obstacle to breaking the case.
Pill Hill Press, July 1, 2011.
Read the Opening Pages.
Download the Press Release.
Ray in The Charlotte Observer.
Ray in The Hook.
thriller and Southern Gothic genres.
Forensic artist Marx Thoreau admires the corpse of a young woman found near
a haunted barn that once belonged to his father, infamous serial killer Donald
Bath. The year is 1976, and the small town of Stonewall seethes with superstition
and paranoia.
Marx is struck by the cadaver’s appearance, which has earned her the nickname
“Sleeping Beauty,” partly because she doesn't decay. He can imagine no greater
pleasure than a night alone with her. Physical and psychological abuse has
twisted this talented artist into a hollow creature who struggles with an inner
necrophiliac and killer. These dark urges haunt his art and creep into his
dreams, but he secretly hopes that solving the Sleeping Beauty’s murder will
somehow free him of his past. Meanwhile, he does his best to behave.
As Marx learns more about the eerie circumstances surrounding the Sleeping
Beauty's death, he also develops conflicting feelings for an alluring but eccentric
young woman named Maple, who has her own troubling secrets. She might be
his salvation, or his greatest obstacle to breaking the case.
Pill Hill Press, July 1, 2011.
Read the Opening Pages.
Download the Press Release.
Ray in The Charlotte Observer.
Ray in The Hook.
UNKNOWN FEMALE
Paperback, 200 pages
IBSN: 978-1-61706-079-3
Click on cover to order
IBSN: 978-1-61706-079-3
Click on cover to order
Ray is a talent to watch.
--Booklist
Ray's characters may be unhinged, but his writing is far from it.
--Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Booklist called him "a talent to watch." Now he has a second novel. This
one is even darker--a gruesome thriller...
--Pam Kelley, The Charlotte Observer
--Booklist
Ray's characters may be unhinged, but his writing is far from it.
--Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Booklist called him "a talent to watch." Now he has a second novel. This
one is even darker--a gruesome thriller...
--Pam Kelley, The Charlotte Observer