Stephen McNeilly

The Dark Side of Beauty Stephen McNeilly

The Dark Side of Beauty is a dark psychological thriller following Jack Cucchiano's search for the Artist Killer - a complex, disturbing and personal quest to hunt down a serial killer who has terrorized the local residents of LA for too long.

Jack Cucchiano, homicide detective, and the most skilful investigator the LAPD has ever known, vowed to stop this sick serial killer but he failed.

After displaying his deranged 'artwork' - macabre paintings using the disfigured bodies of his victims - and murdering a small girl, no older than ten, the Artist Killer's spree abruptly ended. The trail went cold. And LAPD closed the case.



Not used to defeat, LAPD's decision sent Jack into a spiral of self-destruction. Two years on and working as a private investigator on missing persons' cases, the once enviable detective is a mere shell of his former self, consumed by guilt and haunted by visions of the victims he failed.



But when it appears that another 'Artist' victim has been discovered and the LAPD homicide squad are baffled by the bizarre details of the murder, they call on Jack's expertise once more and welcome him back into the LAPD fold.



The murders continue.

Jack has to contend with his own psychological demons as well as this cunning and meticulous killer.

He is pushed to his limit, facing professional betrayal and endless frustration that this serial killer is running rings round the LAPD.

Will he survive?

Will he finally nail this sick serial killer and recover his once unblemished reputation?

Jump inside the fractured mind of this determined detective on his personal journey for truth and justice.