A doctor wants to euthanize his terminal patients. A disgraced journalist wants a better job than flogging tours of crime scenes. The tour business is dying. There aren’t enough murders in this sleepy town to draw a crowd.

A good serial killer would help.

So begins Mr. Mayhem, the new crime thriller that fittingly goes on sale on Black Friday.

For a man known only as Brinker, the trouble starts when he’s fired for reporting his publisher’s DUI. Reduced to doing PR for a funeral home and its trolley tour of murder sites, Brinker despairs of ever restoring his pride, or his bank account. Compared to journalism, PR is degradation, an excuse to lie for a living. His addiction to prescription medication only fuels that rage.

When his doctor asks for a hand in dispatching hopeless patients, Brinker hires a wildly successful assassin named Angel, who brings chaos and fame to this backwoods town. But as Angel’s demands soar with the body count, Brinker wonders whether he’ll become the latest addition to his own list.

With Mr. Mayhem, I’ve tried to turn the suspense genre on its head. Fans of Elmore Leonard and Gillian Flynn will enjoy the double- and triple-crosses that give the book its dark edge. And readers who like a little sugar with their spice may come to think of Brinker as the king of the comic sex scene.

Mr. Mayhem is set in the snowy mountains of Pennsylvania, from whence I come. Published by Allusion Books, the novel is available in print and ebook formats through Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Kobo,  my website and bookstores that place orders through Ingram. The audiobook version is due by the end of December.

What a way to end the year.