In this white-knuckle ride, Kill Me First brings to the life the seductive, ever-shifting balance between good and evil, and our horrified yet mesmeric fascination with violent brutality.

A jolting thriller, it is the story of Merec and his victim, Sarah. A seemingly unstoppable terrorist and human killing machine, Merec has recruited, utilized, then exterminated countless personal murder squads. Unaffiliated with any known political or religious organization, he chooses his jobs for pleasure; he is a man who defies any conventional notion of what is human.

At Merec's command, all the elderly residents of the Willowridge Rest Home--save one--are massacred. He releases a detailed video of the slaughter to the media that is aired on national television. America is shocked by the carnage--and mesmerized. Merec enjoys playing a game with his victims, demonstrating the basest elements of human nature as he forces them to choose whether or not to save their own lives. One victim, Sarah, a younger woman recuperating from a car crash, confounds Merec's cynical expectations. She offers her life in exchange for another's. Fascinated by her refusal, Merec kidnaps Sarah to continue the game.

Videos of a captive and progressively beaten Sarah are released to the media, and Americans are outraged--and eager to watch. Inspired by her stoicism and bravery, a vigil in her honor isplanned at New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral to be broadcast nationwide--an opportunity for which Merec has made his own arrangements to show off his hostage as never before. Unaware that she has become a national celebrity, Sarah discovers that living on the razor's edge has given her an unexpected purpose--and an illicit sense of freedom.

As the vigil at St. Patrick's looms closer, the FBI investigation--headed by an agent named Tresler, a man as enigmatic as his prey--begins to close in, and this twisted cat-and-mouse game accelerates toward an unforgettable end.

An intelligent thriller, this hypnotic portrait of a fiend and his victim will linger in the mind long after the last page has been turned. [close]