PREY BEFORE BED

Cops may soon have their eyes on a methodical serial killer who’s long evaded suspicion in this debut thriller.

Steve Balam is a wealthy, successful financial advisor in the Atlanta area. He spends what little free time he has with his loving wife, Emma, and their two kids. But Balam, who harbors “lustful urges,” also kills and rapes young women. He carefully avoids leaving evidence behind, except for someone else’s DNA, which he deliberately plants at murder scenes. One of Balam’s investments is a chain of massage parlors, where sex is one of the services on offer. That’s where he collects DNA—in one case, it belongs to a rival who’s been threatening him; in another, the DNA is random. Balam has certainly thwarted the investigation, but it surely won’t be long before police spot his distinctive strangulation MO linking several recent murders. Sackos centers this story, which launches a prospective series, largely on Balam’s deception. Scenes depict his meticulous planning (scheduling, purchases, etc.), though the spotlight sometimes shifts to the men whose lives fall apart after being arrested for Balam’s crimes. The villain isn’t cartoonish; despite his violent impulses, he genuinely loves his family. But the rest of the cast, including Emma and the detectives, fades into the background. The author’s taut writing (“The news vans were in rows, and the media element was a complete circus. Obnoxious reporters were sticking the microphone into people’s faces as they approached, hoping to get a juicy bit of gossip that would help their ratings”) adds to the drama without graphically lingering on the deaths themselves.

A bleak but fascinating glimpse into a cold-blooded, diabolical mind.