Lucy is a vigilante killer of pedophiles, and her preferred method is cyanide. In the first few pages of ALL GOOD DEEDS, it’s mentioned that she’s taken this idea from Richard Kuklinksi, also known as The Iceman.

Kuklinski, according to the undercover detective who spent 18 months building a case against him, liked to carry a nasal spray bottle filled with cyanide and give his victims a spritz. When I first starting researching for ALL GOOD DEEDS, I had my doubts about this method, so I contacted the writer’s go-to forensic guy, Dr. DP Lyle. He confirmed that cyanide absorbed through the skin would definitely kill in a matter of minutes, and that many times it’s missed at autopsy unless it’s being specifically looked for. So Kuklinksi’s method worked, but his cyanide trick was just one of many. He administered it by injection, putting it on food, by aerosol spray, or with the Lucy Kendall method: spilling it on the person’s skin.

Enjoying his notoriety after his arrest and subsequent conviction, Kuklinksi appeared in two HBO documentaries. He also met with a number of writers, psychiatrists and criminologists. He liked to list his methods of killing: firearms; ice picks; hand grenades; crossbows; chainsaws; and a bomb attached to a  remote control car. The Iceman nickname appeared after his claim that he froze corpses to disguise time of death.

As a contract killer for Newark’s DeCavalacante crime family and NYC’s Five Families of the America Mafia, Kuklinkski claimed to have murdered between 100 and 250 men. The crime families dispute his role in any contract killings.

Kuklinksi told police he dismembered his victims, as well as burying them, placing the body in the trunk of a car and having it crushed at a junkyard, leaving bodies on park benches, and placing them in a 55 gallon drum.

Although Kuklinksi had a flair for the dramatic and claimed to have a role in killing Jimmy Hoffa–a claim with zero evidence–the undercover investigation into his activities resulted in enough evidence for him to be convicted of five murders in 1988. He received consecutive life sentences for these murders.

Kuklinksi died in March 2006 in the prison wing of St. Francis Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey. He was 70 years old.

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Be honest. Even though some of you shudder in your boots at the idea of writing or reading about a serial killer, even more of you are fascinated by what makes this tick. Ted Bundy was a charming, terrifying psychopath. How many women did he really kill?

Jeffrey Dahmer was a beaten down, miserable man who mutilated gay men and boys. Gacy hid bodies in the crawlspace beneath his house. The Zodiac has never been caught, H.H. Holmes and Ed Gein were part of the inspiration for Leatherface, and of course, Jack the Ripper (and no, I’m not sold on the idea of his finally being identified).

These people have fascinated us for years. Bundy had groupies. Manson gets a ton of letters. Hannibal Lector, another mashup fictional creation of serial killers, is often cheered for by readers and viewers. And don’t forget Dexter, the psychopath we all rooted for until the very end. And no, we’re not talking about how the series ended. Sigh.

The point is, these people are an enigma, and that’s part of why we’re fascinated with them. When I originally started penciling ideas for my Lucy Kendall Series, I thought about the idea of two serial killers coming together and forming some kind of romantic relationship. The idea intrigued me for a minute, and then I quickly realized I had something much darker and juicier on my hands. Lucy Kendall, eradicator of pedophiles, was born.

See, she doesn’t believe she’s a killer when she first walks across the pages of ALL GOOD DEEDS. She’s performing a necessary duty to society, and if that means she’s risking her eternal soul, then so be it. Saving kids is worth it.

Enter Chris Hale, a strikingly good looking man who cheerfully tells her he’s a sociopath and they’re of the same ilk. He’s a serial killer too, and why don’t they join forces.

Panicked, Lucy denies, denies, denies. And she’s immediately intrigued by Chris. Is he really a sociopath? Maybe, although he seems much too compassionate. And is he truly a serial killer? She’s not sure, but she’s going to find out, because Chris has no intention of going away. But even more troublesome to Lucy is this notion that she herself is a serial killer.

She’s not one of those people. Is she?

AN EXCERPT FROM ALL GOOD DEEDS

“You. It’s not often I find someone who’s like me.”

“Like you?”

“In the same line of work.”

I said nothing.

“I don’t like to use the popular name for it.” He leaned over the table, into my space. His eyes burned even brighter up close. In another scenario, I would have matched his body language, flirted a little. A woman should always seize the opportunity to get up close and personal with a face like his. Unless he’s a stalker with the power to send her to the lethal injection chamber. “You know, serial killer. The term is so … trendy. I like to call myself the garbage man. Just taking out the trash.”

Of all the presumptuous, stupid things to say. I wasn’t a serial killer, and I had no interest in aiding this man’s sick fantasies. “I don’t know who you are–”

“Name’s Chris Hale. I’m a paramedic and an Aries. I love Indian food. Italian, too. And Mexican. Pretty much all food. I’ve got a major sweet tooth. Never done drugs, I’m an only child. I’ll spare you the sob story. Anything else?” He smiled again, the lines around his eyes crinkling in a ruggedly attractive way that probably made plenty of women act foolish.

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In 1984, Bobby Joe Long kidnapped, raped, and murdered at least 10 women in the Tampa Bay area. He is believed to have raped at least 50 women.

He was already on probation for assault when he started cruising areas known for prostitution as well as various bars where women might be found alone. Long said his victims approached him and he persuaded him to enter the car. In the Biography episode I watched, he very frankly talked about subduing and threatening the women in the car, and then taking them back to his apartment. He bound the women with rope and proceeded to sadistically rape and torture them before finally killing. Some he strangled, some he bludgeoned, while he cut the throats of others. Every body was displayed with its legs splayed several feet apart at odd angles. Bobby Joe Long is known to have killed five prostitutes, two exotic dancers, a factory worker, a student, and a woman of unknown occupation.

As I watched Long, I was reminded of Ted Bundy, the most charming serial killer of all. Bobby was a pleasant, round faced guy with an easy smile and conversational way of speaking–all while he was telling the story of his vicious murder spree. He knew what he did was wrong, and he wasn’t trying to excuse himself. But he also made it clear that during the time of the murders, the women he killed all showed themselves as morally corrupt, and he really didn’t think their lives were worth much at all.

Again, he told all of this as though he were recounting an adventure, and it was that attitude that chilled me to the bone.

One incredibly brave woman brought Bobby Joe to his end. On her way home from work on November 3, 1984, Lisa McVey was snatched off her bike by someone hiding in the bushes. He had a gun, and quickly blindfolded her and forced her into his car.

Lisa begged him not to hurt her and told him she would do whatever he wanted.  He kept her for 26 hours, repeatedly raping her and even making her shower with him. He told her several times he didn’t want to hurt her. 

During her ordeal, Lisa paid attention to her surroundings. In the car, she managed to peer under the blindfold for a look at the car’s interior. At his apartment, she saw the white stucco building and red steps.

Although the man insisted that she keep her eyes shut as he abused her, she managed to get a look at her surroundings. She also dropped a barrette next to the bed, unnoticed, to prove that she had been there. Inside, she managed to drop a barrette next to the bed to prove she’d been there.

After raping her again, Bobby Joe dozed off. Lisa didn’t try to flee, and when Bobby woke up, he said he trusted her. He stopped referring to her as bitch and called her babe. He said he wished he could keep her, and she even told him she’d stay, be his girlfriend.

He eventually took her back to the car and drove away. He stopped, told her to get out and to take care.

Bobby Joe Long was arrested on November 16, 1984, and he wasn’t surprised. He’d known letting Lisa go was the beginning of the end for him, but he never really explained why he chose to do it.

Like Bundy, Bobby had a personality that engaged law enforcement, and he was often seen chatting and joking with him. But beneath that was quick temper, and several involved with the trial saw him morph into a monster on more than one occasion.

Seeing the killer speak was a reminder of the many masks these people can wear and the complexity of their dark personalities. What makes these psychopaths monsters is not only their heinous crimes, but their ability to blend seamlessly back into society after they have washed the blood off their hands.

Bobby Joe Long is currently on death row in Florida.