Michael Morley - Viper

PENGUIN BOOKS

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First published 2009

Copyright Michael Morley 2009

All rights reserved

Map of the Bay of Naples by Damien Demaj

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

ISBN: 978-0-141-93786-1

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

PENGUIN BOOKS

Michael Morley is a former television presenter, producer and director, and is currently a Senior Executive Director for an international TV company. He has produced a number of award-winning documentaries, including Murder in Mind about Dennis Nilsen, which led to a high-profile High Court battle with the government over the right to broadcast it. For that same documentary Michael often visited the FBIs Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico, and followed FBI agents working in the field. He was also able to interview a number of notor ious serial killers.

Michael divides his time between homes in Derbyshire and the Netherlands. He is married and has three sons.

Viper is his second novel, following his acclaimed debut Spider. To read more about Michael Morley go to www.michael morleybooks.com.

Praise for Michael Morleys first novel, Spider

A terrifying read that will keep you hooked
Simon Kernick

A chillingly vivid thriller. Dont read it alone in the middle of the night Steven Bochco

Spider chillingly captures the realities of a deteriorated mind Lynda La Plante

If youre looking for a great read on the beach, let me steer you towards Spider, a wonderfully horrible serial killer novel Star

A thrilling, fast-paced read Shots Magazine

A perfect crime novel I was unable to put it down
Crime Squad

This has a terrific race-against-time finale. An exciting debut
Bookseller

Has all the makings of a summer blockbuster and could well make Morley a household name Material Witness

To Billy our magnificent surprise

Viper is influenced by the criminal activity of the Camorra in Naples. Most of the places mentioned genuinely exist and most events are drawn from real Camorra activities. Some, however for reasons that will become obvious did not happen and do not exist.

I was helped in my research by new-found friends in the carabinieri in Naples, who need to remain anonymous, and by members of the Neapolitan Camorra whom I prefer to keep anonymous. I must also express my gratitude to Guy Rutty, Professor of Forensic Pathology, East Midlands Forensic Pathology Unit, University of Leicester, UK, for his advice on matters of pathology any deviations from hard cold facts are not his errors but my deliberate fictitious inventions.

Thanks to everyone at Penguin, particularly: my editor Bev Cousins, who made so many great observations that I lost count, and to Alex Clark, Tom Chicken, Shan Morley Jones and Ellie Smith, who all added their own special polish. Thanks also to Julia Bauer in Germany for her many ideas and as always to Jack Barclay for his invaluable advice.

Im blessed with having Luigi Bonomi as my agent and literary guru, and in the international field theres no one better than Nicki Kennedy and Sam Eden-borough at ILA. A big, fully interactive thank you to Ronald Goes for decoding the mysteries of the web, helping me set up www.michaelmorleybooks.com, and providing more than one or two laughs along the way.

Finally, my wife Donna and son Billy deserve a special mention for their support, especially during that bizarre moment when I got arrested by the carabinieri in Castello di Cisterna while taking research photographs of their barracks. The phrase Daddy has been arrested again still causes us amusement.

Francesca Di Lauro had the kind of eyes you never forgot. Hypnotic, almost translucent. An indefinable shade between blue and green. More hologram than optic.

They were fixed on the man in front of her. Fixed very firmly on him as he watched her naked body. Francescas faultless skin and tumbling black hair were backlit by the golden flicker of a newly lit fire. The two of them were alone. Outside, in the pine-smelling woodland. No one to disturb them. Perfect privacy.

Only this was no romantic encounter. This was the worst moment of her life. The flames around Francescas feet crawled up the metal stake shed been tied to. Wind tugged her hair and suddenly the jaws of an orange dragon were chewing her flesh. Francesca twisted hopelessly, the agonizing heat searing her paraffin-soaked skin.

He stood a few metres away, mesmerized by the slow murder, stroking himself pleasurably. His eyes fixed on the curtain of flames. This would take time. A deliciously long time.

Francesca had been tied with coils of wire around her feet, hands and neck. Hed learned from past mistakes.

Rope burned, then they tried to get away. He didnt want any more messiness. No mistakes this time.

Bricks were stacked waist-high, all around her. A kiln to funnel heat up her body. Rags stuffed in her mouth and then bound around her face to choke off any screams. Though sometimes he liked to hear them. Liked to hear the air leave their lungs for one last time.

Francescas head slumped limply on her chest. She was a quiet one. Flames ate her hair. The smell of burning flesh, sweet and greasy like a hog roast, carried in the cold night air. He sucked it in. Savoured it. Fed on it.

Amid the crackle of the fire he waited. Listened now for the moment when he heard her skull crack and sizzle. Popping chestnuts! How he just loved to peel away those crisp, burned outer shells.

Hed removed all her jewellery and, while he watched, he played with it in his pocket, turning the trophies in his hand like beads on a rosary.

The blaze illuminated the pit that he stood in. It was almost three metres deep, seven metres wide and fifteen metres long. It had been dug by the landowner as foundations for a house that never got built.