May 19th, 2025
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The books of May are here—fresh, fierce, and full of feels.

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Wedding season includes searching for a missing bride�and a killer . . .


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Sometimes the path forward begins with a step back.


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One island. Three generations. A summer that changes everything.


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A snapshot made them legends. What it didn�t show could tear them apart.


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This life coach will give you a lift!


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A twisty, "addictive," mystery about jealousy and bad intentions


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Trapped by magic, haunted by muses�she must master the cards before they�re lost to darkness.


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Masquerades, secrets, and a forbidden romance stitched into every seam.


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A vanished manuscript. A murdered expert. A castle full of secrets�and one sharp-witted sleuth.


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Two warrior angels. First friends, now lovers. Their future? A WILD UNKNOWN.


The Bricklayer of Albany Park

The Bricklayer of Albany Park, September 2017
by Terry John Malik

Blank Slate Press
340 pages
ISBN: 1943075344
EAN: 9781943075348
Kindle: B074P9FZ2Y
Paperback / e-Book
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"Serial Killer Hunting Pedophiles In the Windy City"

Fresh Fiction Review

The Bricklayer of Albany Park
Terry John Malik

Reviewed by Patricia (Pat) Pascale
Posted January 3, 2021

Mystery | Thriller Serial Killer

From the Windy City comes a chilling tale of a savage serial killer on a mission. Stalk, then brutally murder the pedophile, after torturing and dismembering him. Stage his body and place him at a site to bring attention to his filthy crime. It will send a message to the world that he will find sexual attackers of children and make them suffer. This is the BEST murder mystery I have read in 2018!

Francis Vincenti lost his mother in a car accident when he was 4 years old. He was brought up by his cruel and abusive father who drank and beat him regularly. At school, he was bullied until Tony became his protector and his friend, until Tony moved away.

Francis remained a loner and counted the days until he could leave home and his hateful father. His grandfather had left him money to attend college. He selected Northeastern University as a way to get free from his father. He was lazy and barely attended classes, drinking heavily and still a loner. One night at the library he asked some of his school mates on a baseball scholarship, what course would they recommend that would be easy and offer a good grade? All answered, Criminal Justice, taught by Thomas Aquinas Foster. Meeting and studying with Foster changed Francis life and he became Foster's protege. Foster, a retired Chicago cop recognized unique talents in Francis. He had an uncanny insight into a killer's psyche, not unlike his own. Foster prepared him for the Police Academy and later as a Chicago cop. Francis, now Frank, quickly climbs the ladder and becomes a detective. .Wen the "Bricklayer" serial murders begin to increase, Frank and his partner Sean Kelly work day and night to find the murderer. They share their thoughts and evidence with Foster as the killer returns to strike again and again. Who is the killer stalking now? A child molester that needs to be taught a lesson.

This is a story told by Detective Frank Vincenti and Anthony, the "Bricklayer" in short but descriptive chapters. Filled with dark secrets, violence and deep psychological roots, it will hold you spellbound as the killer's fury erupts and refuses to stop his bloody rampage.

A sub-story of Beth and Frank, going through a nasty marriage. Beth married to displease her society mother, is addicted to cocaine and unfaithful to her husband. She demands he leave the police department or she will divorce him. Frank believes Beth is the only woman other than his mother who ever loved him. Is he correct or did he make a big mistake?

Mr. Malik takes us on an exciting journey with an ending that is sure to shock and surprise you. The characters are colorful, the killer truly a monster. THE BRICKLAYER OF ALBANY PARK is a brilliant debut and I eagerly await his next book. Bravo! A real winner!

Learn more about The Bricklayer of Albany Park

SUMMARY

Does it take a monster to catch a monster? As a student, Francis Vincenti asked his mentor, former Chicago PD detective Thomas Aquinas Foster, if it took a monster to catch a monster. Foster, a man with a tortured soul and his own self-righteous brand of justice, didn't have an answer. Now a detective with a string of famous arrests under his belt,Vincenti is known as a cop with an uncanny insight into a killer's psyche. Until the Bricklayer of Albany Park. Obsessed with the brutal slayings, Vincenti studies the murderer and his victims, reconstructing the killings and burials by day and, at night, recreating the murders one by one in his nightmares. He knows the Bricklayer. But not well enough to stop him.


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