Eddy Bratenahl Novel

Police psychologist Edwardo Bratenahl is a young widower, still mourning the tragic loss of his wife. Bratenahl, an academic and native of the insular Cleveland neighborhood of Little Italy, is asked to assist with the homicide investigation of world-class geneticist Dr. Simon Pederson, who was viciously slain during Sunday mass. Bratenahl is partnered with Mary Kate Calderon, veteran homicide detective. The two soon discover a related murder, which Calderon confesses looks eerily like a scenario she witnessed as a child in Nicaragua, with all the hallmarks of a Sandinista interrogator dubbed Diablo Rojo. Bratenahl brushes this off as coincidence, but the psychologist soon discovers just how perilous the world around him is, as he collides with the Red Devil, Simon Pederson's legacy of destruction, and the weight of family history in this twisty, dark police procedural.

It's the sweltering summer of 2001 in Cleveland, and police psychologist Edwardo Bratenahl has too many worries in his life. His cat has accidentally destroyed his home- and insurance refuses to pay for repairs. He's trying to connect romantically with a woman for the first time since the death of his wife the previous year, and finds that any type of relationship with glass artist Amanda Richards is as fraught as a stroll through a minefield. His oldest friend and newly crowned mafia don, Firenzo Tullo, is involving Edwardo in one of his most dangerous schemes. Little Italy is consumed with preparations for the annual Feast of the Assumption. And worst of all, a serial killer seems intent on lashing out their dark anger on Cleveland's celebrities. As the number of dead grows, Edwardo must face the challenge of helping to track down the violent lunatic, before they get too close to home.