Published in August of 2007, Last Breath is frightfully real novel about an outwardly normal man who commits horrific acts. The story begins when four corpses are found in an abandoned meat locker in rural Maryland. The bodies are identified as women who went missing and were presumed dead four years earlier. The murders were attributed to two teens that perished in a car fire while fleeing from police. The only problem is that new evidence, found in the meat locker, contradicts that theory. It seems that there has been a killer on the loose all this time.
About Sherry Moore
Embarrassed, and with no suspects, police investigators call on their--somewhat unconventional -- secret weapon, Sherry Moore. Ms. Moore is a middle-aged blind woman, whose uncanny psychic ability to read the last 18 seconds of a person's thoughts has made her famous. It's also left her teetering on the edge of sanity as she avails herself of the terror-filled last thoughts of so many murder victims. This latest case is sure to be one of the worst. Will she be able to handle reliving those terrible moments?
Terror in Pennsylvania
Unfortunately, the four murders are not the "last breath" killer's last. Once they know the murderer's "MO," investigators find half a dozen more victims, murdered along the Appalachian Trail and in remote camping sites.
The trail to find the killer, who tortures his victims in a terrible way for hours before murdering them, leads the police to rural Pennsylvania, to an otherwise idyllic spot, favored by outdoor enthusiasts. Will the investigators be able to identify the killer before he strikes one of their own?
Last Breath is a fast-paced, if somewhat gruesome, tale, filled with lots of detail and contradictions. The story's protagonist, Sherry Moore, is a unique--and likeable--blend of the honorable and the flawed. It's a combination that draws the reader to her vulnerability. So layered and nuanced is the plot of Last Breath, it's difficult to believe that it's a second novel.
About George D. Shuman
George D. Shuman worked for the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department for 20 years before writing his first novel, 18 Seconds, which was published in 2006. This first effort was nominated for a Shamus and a Best First Novel Thriller Award. Last Breath is his second novel. Mr. Shuman divides his time between North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
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