True North can sometimes be a lie
With his time potentially running out, death row inmate Travis Newsom engages Pastor Stan McLogan in the final months leading up to his execution. Among other things, the pastor runs a prison ministry outreach and while a bit apprehensive, is also eager to hear what the infamous “Compass Killer” has to say; not only about the six serial murders decades ago, but also about the ones that have yet to be tied back to the killer. Using this opportunity to his advantage, Newsom asks him to learn about the families of his victims while also promising to toss McLogan names of potential other victims throughout his life. Over the next several months, Pastor Stan learns about Newsom’s violent past and criminal career. As a child of abuse in all forms eventually leading to a life of crime and murder at a young age, Newsom also tells the tale of the family he left behind for fear of instilling in his child the same poison that was planted in him. He speaks not only of the compass killings, but of those that he has kept to himself over the years. With the help of an old friend from the Santa Monica PD, McLogan’s research turns up several leads to other cases possible attributed to Newsom as well as the evidence that the killer’s memory may not be as iron clad as he thinks.
The Compass Killer is the most recent in The Serial Killer Anthology by author Michael Geczi. Following in the footsteps of the prior novels, The Compass Killer is less of a who done it and more of a why done it as described by the author. We know the who as Travis Newsom is sitting on death row, but why? Were his victims just cases of wrong place, wrong time, or was there some sort of trigger? Through the series of prison visits with McLogan and Newsom the narrative that unfolds reveals not only each killing in details but also aspects of Newsom’s life that have not seen the light of day previously. With the picture slowly coming into focus, it’s not until the ending few pages the reader truly meets the catalyst for the Compass Killer’s origins and this revelation is truly mind blowing.
If you have not yet read any of the other books in Geczi’s Serial Killer Anthology, The Compass Killer does not have any ties to The Deadly Samaritan, Killer Dead, Victim Alive, or Hunting a Cat in Dogtown and can easily be read as a stand-alone story. In fact, other than a brief appearance from Santa Monica PD mainstays Detectives Granger, Nichols and El Masry the events of The Compass Killer are completely unrelated. Overall, this book had sort of an “Interview with the Vampire” or “Silence of the Lambs” type vibe; with the bad guy divulging his story and sometimes secrets to an uninvolved third party but never as a one way exchange. Just as McLogan used Newsom for more insight on the killings both known and unknown, Newsom uses this same tactic to back into information about his old girlfriend and her son that he abandoned immediately after his birth.
With The Compass Killer Geczi does a great job of making the reader feel empathy for Newsom. As his story unfolds from the abuse at the hands of his mother and father to his early exposure to a life of crime it was painfully evident that Travis Newsom, the child, never had it good and possibly never had a chance. The “find your true north” phrase as a theme throughout the book also acted as a trigger of sorts including factoring into Newsom’s use of a compass as his calling card. For me, though the true revelations in Newsom’s story comes in the Epilogue when what starts out as a potentially random scene reveals the significance of the person and their role in this entire story. I am truly hoping that this reveal is revisited in a future story to more flesh out this background character and the true impact that may have had on an impressionable life.
Long after completing this book, I keep thinking about the characters and particularly the mind-blowing twist to wrap up this book, not with a bow but with a bit of barbed wire that has me hooked and wanting more.
If you like stories about serial killers with a human element that will have you thinking long after you’re done reading, I highly recommend any book in this series. I’m looking forward to more from this author in the future.
Full disclosure – I was provided an advanced reader’s copy of this book by the author or their representative but have voluntarily provided a review. All opinions are my own.
Jennly Reads 