Spider - Michael Morley [0]
Spider
Michael Morley is a former television presenter, producer and director, and is currently a Senior Executive Director for an international TV company. He has produced a number of award-winning documentaries, including Murder in Mind about Denis Nilsen, which led to a high-profile High Court battle with the government over the right to broadcast it. For that same documentary Michael often visited the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico, and followed FBI agents working in the field. He was also able to interview a number of notorious serial killers.
Michael divides his time between homes in Derbyshire and the Netherlands. He is married and has three sons.
All the characters and events in this book are entirely fictitious and no parallels should be drawn with any real-life detectives, criminals or cases.
‘A terrifying read that will keep you hooked’ Simon Kernick
‘Spider chillingly captures the harsh realities of a deteriorated mind’ Lynda La Plante
‘A chillingly vivid thriller. Don’t read it alone in the middle of the night’ Steven Bochco
Spider
MICHAEL MORLEY
PENGUIN BOOKS
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
www.penguin.com
First published 2008
1
Copyright © Michael Morley, 2008 All rights reserved
That’s Amore. Written by Warren & Brooks
© 1953 Four Jays Music Publishing Co.
Peermusic (UK) Ltd. Used by permission.
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishements, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
978-0-14-192075-7
To:
La gloriosa donna
della mia mente x
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My thanks to all the people who got Spider into print:
Massimo Del Frate, one of Italy’s greatest and nicest drama producers, helped plant the seeds for this novel over lunch. He, his assistant Benedetta, and no doubt many unnamed others, were also kind enough to help me with the accuracy of the Italian police sections.
My wife and children gave up our precious times together to let me write, rewrite and rewrite again – thank you for your love, patience and support.
Stephanie Jackson at Dorling Kindersley was generous enough to introduce me to all the right people – Steph, thanks for going the extra mile when you didn’t really need to.
Luigi Bonomi should wear a badge saying ‘best agent in the world’ – thanks for your inspiration, guidance and commercial skills – no one does it better.
Richenda Todd helped enormously with the blunt, brutal and brilliant advice she gave me early on.
Beverley Cousins at Penguin blessed me with an abundance of painstaking care, eagle eyes,