Screenshot - Tapa dura

In this provocative and fast-paced novel, an interactive assassin broadcasts his deeds live to an eager online audience. The macabre genius behind the killings calls himself Screenshot and taunts his targets—a pedophile, a drug dealer, and a mob boss—by giving bizarre names to the horrific execution methods he devises. He then invites the audience members to bid on the right to pull the trigger. A reporter who has been manipulated into being Screenshot's spokesman to the world, a female cop, and an eccentric scientist with a grudge all form an unlikely alliance that must stop Screenshot before the next deadly broadcast, but two of the trio are soon captured and scheduled to be the next fatal attraction. This riveting techno-thriller poses the question: If killing an evil man will save many lives, can his murder be justified?

John Darrin is a writer whose short stories have been published in The Advocate. He is a sales and marketing consultant specializing in international business for small startups as well as Fortune 100 companies. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.