Confessions of a Gentleman Killer

"“This book is a thriller, a killer read. It is a fascinating blend of psychology, will power, carnality, adventure, a tale of true love, deceit and deeply rooted internal struggles. The main character borders on genius with a Beowulfian dragon fighting within his charming physique that can’t be tamed. Johnny Payne has the ability to weave any scene or dialog with verisimilitude to make the reader believe in the historical reality of his characters. There is excellence to be found in the protagonist but usually it is of the opposing kind, the contrary to a Homeric Arete. Does that mean he’s irredeemable? You’ll discover on the last page. I got an advanced copy to read of this novel and read it in one sitting. I love the poetic quality of Payne’s writing as well as its wittiness and rawness, which is found in both its physical and emotional worlds. Is there a gentleman killer lurking inside all of us?”

 Phillip Elliott

Professor Emeritus, Southern University 

“A master class on narrative, Confessions of a Gentleman Killer is a wonderfully written novel. Its protagonist is a ruthless killer, named Kilcairn, with an exquisite taste for language and an insatiable sexual appetite, who recites poems with the same calm with which he perpetrates his killings. With a poet’s eye for the exquisite detail, Payne writes: “The voice of the angel used to speak more loudly in me, before I noticed the lice in its wings.” Payne’s novel is set during the Industrial Revolution in England, which was becoming the world’s workshop with the rise of the steel industry, and is peppered with the corresponding hypocrisy of the era. The smile and intelligence of this serial killer is as sharp and lethal as his knife.”

 Martin Camps

Poet, professor of Literature and Spanish, and Director of the Latin American Studies program at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

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