The Beast with Seven Heads: An Improbable Sleuth Mystery

" 'The Beast with Seven Heads' is at times very exciting, at times very haunting, but never disappointing. . . . This book is a wonderful example of a deeply Catholic novel. The themes throughout are infused with a profound faith background and understanding of the world through a Catholic lens. . . . However, people from any faith background will find the novel entertaining and engaging" (Catholic Book Report). In 1970, at a community college near Pittsburgh, an imperious senior professor, Blake Douglas, is found dead in his office, killed by an injection of potassium cyanide into his carotid artery. By-the-book Detective Peters immediately suspects young assistant professor William Gavin of the murder because there was friction between him and the victim. To clear his name, the popular teacher is thrust into the role of amateur sleuth, and into an ambivalent association with the assiduous but unimaginative Peters - who, perplexed and uneasy with the academic's unorthodox mode of investigation, is none-the-less compelled to follow his canny leads. As the case unfolds, Gavin combines keen observation and inquiry with deft intuition to solve the crime, and in dramatic manner to deliver the unlikely killer. Gavin's investigation reveals, however, that the homicide is connected to a satanic cult practicing unspeakable rites. Within a few days of the crime's solution, Bill Gavin, his pregnant wife and three children, come under deadly attack. Gavin is thus compelled to renew and intensify his investigations, with Detective Peters still befuddled but now more earnestly cooperative. Through half a dozen deaths, two demonic manifestations, and several other harrowing episodes, Gavin penetrates and, in a sensational climax, uncovers the diabolical web of evil. Other characters substantially interacting with Gavin are forlorn photography instructor, Barry Kinder; officious college president, Dr. Marsh; flighty drama teacher, Mab Dubonnet; sensible novice attorney, Miss Mei Li; enigmatic dean, Emma Gray; shrewish secretary, Caly Tynan; sycophantic security guard, Travis Sweet; dubious student, Brooke Klein; loyal colleague, Salvador Amici; and Gavin's anguished but stalwart spouse, Grace. The story's action is paced and offset by scenes in Bill's philosophy class where ethical theories are discussed in commentary, as it were, upon the moral drama played out; by solitary moments when Bill Gavin contemplates the enigmatic, the insidious phenomena that assail him; by affectionate, pained, and humorous scenes in the Gavin home contrasting with the hellish events and persons with which Bill grapples. The events leading up to and occurring during the watershed year of 1970 - shocking assassinations, the Viet Nam War, urban riots, campus occupations, the Woodstock debauch - and the iconic songs, books, and figures of the time are meaningfully woven into the narrative to provide temporal coloration as well as cultural context for the moral tale that unfolds.

Author: Alfred Vincent Hanley

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Publication Date: Nov 30, 2011

Number of Pages: 306 pages

Binding: Paperback or Softback

ISBN-10: 1466360534

ISBN-13: 9781466360532