EYES OF A KILLER

About the Book

The story of a predatory woman who lures a rogue cop into a complex web of murder and deception.  Multi-millionaire, Walter Benedict, CEO of Benedict Enterprises Incorporated, and his wife, Diane are entrapped in a crumbling and untenable marriage.  Motivated by greed, and passion for a corrupt L.A. cop, Detective Lt. Jack Ramsey, Mrs. Benedict sets up a plan to “eliminate” her husband.  Ramsey enlists the aid of mob-connected Nick Falconetti, who owns the Algiers Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.  Acting as a middle-man, Falconetti recommends Tony Lenska, a professional hit-man, to “take care” of Mr. Benedict.  Falconetti will take a 33% commission of the $30.000. fee for setting up the dea l.  Ramsey meets with Tony Lenska in his squalid, Skid Row hotel room.  They arrange to meet a few days later at a yet-undisclosed, Los Angeles location.

The story’s sub-plot concerns Diane Benedict’s position as an attorney for the prestigious law firm of David Isreal and Associates, located in Century City.  When attorney Mark Zarish is terminated for sexually harassing the new receptionist, Diane is handed the Rick DeMarco case.  DeMarco, who is being held at the Men’s Central Jail, without bail, is accused of killing his mistress, Marie Novachek, and throwing her body  off the Arroyo Seco Bridge, in nearby Pasadena.

To build Lt. Ramsey’s characterization as a vile and totally corrupt cop, he and his partner, Sgt. Becker, are called to a house in Venice, where a middle-aged black woman has been murdered.  The prime suspect, her sixteen-year-old son, Sonny, is picked up at a video arcade, taken to police headquarters, and after hours of intense interrogation is coerced into signing a confession.  (In actuality, the boy is innocent of the crime.)

After returning from a business trip to New York, Walter Benedict retreats to his luxurious boat, the “Santana,” moored in Marina del Rey.  It is on board the “Santana” that Lenska plans to “ice” Mr. Benedict.  Under cover of darkness, Lenska pours gasoline over the ship’s desk, and sets it on fire.  Miraculously, Benedict manages to escape, before the boat blows up.  When word reaches Falconetti that Lenska “screwed-up,” he orders two o f his muscle-men to find the hit-man and “eliminate” him.  In a suspenseful sequence, Lenska is discovered in a Vegas restaurant Men’s room, kidnapped, and taken to a deserted industrial area, where he is garrotted and killed.  His body ends up inside the trunk of a demolished Cadillac, in an Auto-wrecking yard,

Ramsey and Diane Benedict meet in an obscure North Hollywood bowling alley and it is here that Ramsey decides to “take out” Benedict himself – he is scheduled to be guest speaker at a Writers convention in Palm Springs.  Ramsey vows, Walter Benedict will never “reach” Palm Springs.  This scene is followed by a sequence on Interstate 60, a few nights later.  Benedict’s Rolls-Royce is pulled over, on a ruse by Det. Ramsey.  There is an altercation, and Benedict is shot and killed.  His body is taken to a remote desert location and buried.

Shortly thereafter, Diane goes to Det. Lt. Joe Kellermann of the Beverly Hills Police Department, to report that her husband is missing.  This precipitates an all-out search, and an APB is released by police authorities.

The above is interspersed with the murder trial of Rick DeMarco.  At one point, he confesses to Mrs. Benedict, that he indeed killed Marie Novacheck because she threatened to scuttle his marriage.  When Diane discusses this turn of events with David Isreal, his reaction is:  “The guilty deserve representation as well as the innocent.  We’ll let the “jury” d

About the Author

John Leslie Evans, born in Corsham, England and raised in Kimberley, British Columbia, Canada, presently lives in Brea, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, His first published novel, “Prescription: Murder,” was adapted from a screenplay by the same name. His second novel, “Eyes of a Killer,” tells the story of a predatory woman who lures a rogue cop into a complex web of murder and deception. In addition, Mr. Evans has just completed “A Question of Murder,” which was also adapted from a screenplay. The story concerns the alleged murder-suicide of tabloid publisher, Randall Curtiss and his wife, in their palatial Hollywood Hills mansion