The Gilchrist Echo

In the tradition of Ann Rule, this psychological true-crime novel follows Michael Vance, a failed archivist who becomes obsessed with the condemned serial killer Elias Gilchrist. Gilchrist's infamous federal lawsuit—Gilchrist v. United States—claimed his memories were implanted by the state. After Gilchrist's execution, Vance adopts a new identity in a decaying coastal town, convinced he can absorb the killer's "truth." As he begins replicating long-dormant murder rituals, the boundary between his own past and Gilchrist's fictional autobiography dissolves. Told through fragmented case files, diary entries, and unreliable narration, the story reveals that memory is a lying witness, and the man who sets out to imitate a monster may already be one.