The Case of the Miami Vigilante
The Fairlington Lavender Detective Series
by
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After my last killing I began to carry my handgun with me everywhere I went. I was beginning to feel that there was so much out there that needed to be corrected, so much justice to be done, that I couldn’t just wait to read bad things in the newspaper to go into action. If I saw something terrible and needed to act, I wanted to be able to do what had to be done without waiting for this or that opportunity. This I learned from watching Death Wish. Bronson didn’t sit around like he was waiting for a call from someone to act. He was there when it happened and did what he had to do. I wanted more immediate payback than I had before with the first four people I took care of. I had a pretty normal summer from June on. The cops were, I guess, investigating the murder of the kid who killed the dogs, as well as the other three deaths that I was responsible for. I had no idea where they were on all of this but I knew they didn’t suspect that one person was responsible for them. They would start to figure it out soon enough. I had a lot of time to think about things during July. I had a three week vacation coming to me and I took off from July 8th until about the 29th. There was really nothing going on to report during those weeks. I went to the movies, dated the girl I was seeing on and off at the time, and just sort of hung around the apartment watching T.V. and relaxing. Every now and then I starting thinking about the four people I had killed. I had to roll this whole thing around in my mind. I knew they all had families and friends who felt bad that they were killed. I knew that I was in the middle of something big and that there was always the possibility that I would get caught sooner or later. I wasn’t looking forward to killing anyone else because I had no real need to kill for any thrill. The only gain for me and for society was that if I stopped them, they would never again do the things they did. Every so often I wished I could shoot future criminals with a magical bullet that would make them stop what they were doing. I recognized that this was ridiculous thinking and no such thing was possible, but I wished it was. I always felt better in my head and stomach after I killed the people that I did, but aside from the calm and quiet I felt, I really got no pleasure from their deaths.
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About the Book
For three years Miami cops tried unsuccessfully to solve a series of unrelated murders. As time passed and the body count began to rise, an interagency team of detectives began to ponder the possibility that a serial killer was loose in their county of two and a half million citizens. In 2009, the arrest of Mr. Michael Jerome brought the killing spree to an end. For the police and residents of the county, the case was concluded with a conviction on nine counts of premeditated murder. The perpetrator was sentenced to life in prison without parole. This was not, however, to be the end of the Michael Jerome story. While conducting a routine visit to the Miami-Dade County Jail on an unrelated case, private detective Fairlington Lavender meets Jerome, who is housed in an isolation cell. Interested in this unique case, Lavender is afforded the opportunity to interview the infamous killer. On their last visit together, Jerome hands the detective a fifty three page diary which reveals every detail of his life prior to, during, and after his killing spree. Lavender shares the diary with his friend Dr. Sanford Lerner, a forensic psychiatrist. Over a period of three months, the cop and the doctor meet and piece together the unique mosaic of Michael Jerome in an effort to understand what drove this previously law abiding man to such mayhem. The Case of the Miami Vigilante will afford the reader access to the complete, unedited diary of Michael Jerome. The psychological autopsy Lavender and Lerner conduct as they attempt to reach consensus concerning the motivations, psychological dynamics, and ultimately the clinical diagnosis of this enigmatic man will captivate the interest of anyone who is an ardent follower of crime stories. Was Michael Jerome a serial killer or a righteous vigilante?
About the Author
S.N. Bronstein is the author of The Fairlington Lavender Detective Series, a trilogy of crime stories that concludes with the publication of The Case of the Miami Vigilante. Previously published novels including The Case of the Miami Philanthropist and The Case of the Miami Blackmailer thrilled readers as private investigator Fairlington Lavender tracked and ultimately brought to justice two men guilty of nefarious murders. The author spent over three decades as an educator in Florida public schools. He now resides in Florida and devotes his time to writing crime novels and young adult fiction.