The Murder Channel

If you read this book and miss the message, read it again. The problem is yours. Lucas Frank doesn't want to deal with the horrible acts we commit on each other anymore. Felix Zrbny grew tired of them too. Dr. Frank has the skills to catch killers. Felix was only 14 years old! How do we cope with a world that is fed to us on TV? How do we live in a world where patriotism isn't service to country but being a good consumer? This book asks important questions and thank God gives some answers.

Fifteen years ago teenager Felix Zrbny finished his paper route, picked up a knife and slaughtered three woman in his neighborhood. Since that time he has been institutionalized. On the way to a hearing for his release, Felix is accidentally allowed to escape. Now he is loose in the streets of Boston, getting ready to take up where he left off. Lucas Frank, a retired forensic psychiatrist, was brought in to testify at the hearing, and now finds himself drawn into the search for Felix by his old friend Ray Bolton. In the meantime Zrbny is hiding under the cover of a record snowstorm that has blanketed Boston.Frank and Bolton quickly discover that there are other forces at work, that other agendas are interfering with their manhunt. Wendy Pouldice, owner of Boston Trial Television has kept in touch with Felix since his sister was kidnapped, two years before his first murder spree. BTT cameras seem to appear wherever Felix is. Is Wendy using her connection with Felix to increase her station's marketshare? Dermott Fremont is head of Vigil a militia group that seems to have it's own plan for Felix. They too seem to show up everywhere, usually with bloody results. Neville Waycross has become a street monk after Felix killed his wife. He joins in the hunt, but his motivation is unclear.Philpin chooses to alternate narration between Frank and Zrbny. Normally I don't like dual narration, but both characters are so interesting that this device works perfectly. Frank, after too many rough cases in Boston, has retired to Northern Michigan, where he relishes the quiet and the isolation. Frank is not a classic courtroom psychiatrist. Instead he is every bit as involved as any other investigator. Frank, bluffs, bullies, shoots, and finesses his way to the facts that will help him to get inside Zrbny's head.And Zrbny's head turns out to be a very interesting place! As the story gradually fills in the blanks in his past, Zrbny become an almost sympathetic character. Of imposing size and intelligence, Felix displays both psychotic and sociopathic traits, making him and extremely dangerous killer. But he is aware of his psychological state and understands that he is using death as a way to manipulate symbols in the public eye. He is also capable of concern and conscience in his relationships. He has a sense of honor, and he is capable of remarkable insights into human behavior. I wouldn't call him sympathetic, but the reader will feel an attraction to him.The drama builds in unexpected fashion to a truly surprising conclusion. Philpin displays fine writing skills, knowing just when to describe, when to build character, and when to move the plot forward. This is the fourth Lucas Frank novel Philpin has written or collaborated on, and I fully intend to read the others. If you are a fan of the serial killer genre put "The Murder Channel" on your must buy list.Marc Ruby - for The Mystery Reader

First there was John Wolf ("The Prettiest Feathers," and "Tunnel of Night"), then Lily Dorman ("Dreams in the Key of Blue"), and now Felix Zrbny lights up "The Murder Channel." Philpin's villains are complex and intriguing, and his anti-hero, Dr. Lucas Frank, is a crafty, crusty, impatient genius at solving crime. In this book, Lucas grumps about police logs, takes time out to eat his favorite German food, gets a gun shoved in his face by a darling senior citizen, and wonders whether we have more murders or just better TV coverage. Interestingly Felix Zrbny wonders about many of the same things Lucas does. I knew Philpin bases most of his stories on real events and I searched for something similar to this one but had no luck. It's another treat anyway. Can't wait for the next one.

Lucas Frank returns to Boston to do a favor for his old detective friend Ray Bolton. Mass murderer Felix Zrbny has petitioned for release from the mental hospital where he's been confined for the past 15 years, and Bolton wants Frank's opinion on the killer's dangerousness. A winter storm hits the city, an urban militia invades the courthouse, Zrbny escapes while on his way to court, and the media's eye absorbs it all and distorts it for public consumption. Now Dr. Frank wishes he hadn't left his retreat in the Michigan woods. In "The Murder Channel," Philpin writes in a brisk, lean style reminiscent of TV news reporters, and of Boston writer George V. Higgins. None of Philpin's books are for the squeamish, and this one is no exception. The mind probing betrays Philpin's past as an investigative psychologist and as always is terrifyingly real. This one also offers a neat twist at the end. Another great read!

Several years ago, forensic psychiatrist Lucas Frank closed down his Beacon Street practice because he was weary of profiling mass murderers and other inhuman monsters. He retreated to Lake Albert, Michigan and rejected all efforts to return to his previous work. However, now he will take on the occasional interesting case even reluctantly returning to Boston to do so though hating to leave his haven.Lucas' best friend Ray Bolton asks him to observe the hearings of Felix Zrbny, who at twenty-nine, wants to be released from the psychiatric facility he was remanded to as a fourteen year old cold blooded killer of three people. Before Lucas arrives, Felix escapes to complete his murderous mission that was interrupted by the police fifteen years ago. Lucas assists the Boston police in their desperate search to keep other innocents from dying.John Philpin creates a villain that obtains reader empathy as Felix selects his victims from those he believes deserves death for what they allegedly did to him. Lucas is an observer who predicts actions and motives of others without participating in the hunt. However, Lucas admits that he remains in the dark when it comes to understanding Felix. THE MURDER CHANNEL depicts the media as a participant in making the news adding to a drama that leaves the audience shaking their head yet feeling they read a remarkable novel.Harriet Klausner