Mantis

"Mantis" by Richard La Plante is aptly named. The serial killer in this top notch mystery/thriller is an out of control martial artist that uses his pure mantis style martial arts to maim and then to sexually deposit his human "half" in the bodies of his victims before killing them. This is the first of the Joey Tanaka/Bill Fogerty novels novels by La Plante, and in my opinion the best. What makes this novel particularly interesting (besides the obvious serial killer/martial arts hook) is that the three main characters (Tanaka, Fogerty and the Mantis) are all deeply scarred, damaged human beings. Josef Tanaka, half Japanese, half American coroner is tortured by the fact that he was directly responsible for the crippling of his older brother in the All Japan Karate Tournament. Detective Bill Fogerty's wife and daughter were killed in a firey car wreck...one the detective feels responsible for. Fogerty himself was burned on one side of his face and wears his scars as a sign of his guilt. The "Mantis" was the product of an upbringing in which he was humiliated and sexually tortured; leaving him emotionally and physically scarred. Each man attempts to find his way past their own suffering: Tanaka and Fogerty in the service of justice and the Mantis in the service of death as a way to transcend the humanity that he hates so much. "Mantis" is a tightly knit thriller that fans of "Silence of the Lambs" will find satisfying and enjoyable. It's also a great character study detailing the lives of three men and their seperate responses to the pain and tragedy in their lives.