A MAN CAN'T EVEN DIE IN PEACE

Blind to the beauty of his island home in Canada, shattered by the death of his wife of 32 years, American expatriate Russell Walker is ready to join her. But Smelly won't let him!

Smelly—notorious for his refusal to bathe—was Russell's college roommate back in 1967. He's lived a hermit's life ever since, and only Russell knows why: Smelly reads minds, can't help it—and it hurts. After all these years, Russell is still the only person Smelly can stand to be near. And now Smelly urgently needs an intermediary with the police—suicidal or not.

He's learned that a serial sadist who would terrify Ted Bundy is at play in the Vancouver area. Unfortunately, he's got only scraps of information that aren't enough to ID either the killer or his next victims. And he can't even come close enough to a cop to tell his story.

Against his better judgment, Russell brings this unlikely tale to Constable Nika Mandic, a tough but unlucky Vancouver policewoman—and soon the mild-mannered Sixties survivor finds himself conspiring with a telepathic hermit and an uptight cop to track a monster to his lair.

But are the three together smart enough to stalk a creature who thinks of himself as the first true scientist of cruelty If not, Russell's suicidal urges may be fulfilled sooner—and much less painlessly—than he planned. . . .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Since he began writing professionally in 1972, Spider Robinson has won three Hugo Awards, a Nebula Award, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, the E.E. ("Doc") Smith Memorial Award (Skylark), the Pat Terry Memorial Award for Humorous Science Fiction, and Locus Awards for Best Novella and Best Critic. Twenty-four of his 29 books are still in print, in 10 languages. His short work has appeared in magazines around the planet, from Omni and Analog to Xhurnal Izobretatel i Rationalizator (Moscow), and in numerous anthologies. In 2000 he released Belaboring the Obvious, a CD comprising readings of excerpts from Callahan's Key, plus original music performed by Spider with legendary Alberta guitarist Amos Garrett and top session players.

Spider was born in New York City on 3 successive days (they had to handle him in sections), and holds a Bachelors degree in English from the State University of New York. He was book reviewer for Galaxy, Analog and New Destinies magazines for nearly a decade, and currently writes occasional book reviews and a regular op-ed column, "Future Tense," for The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper.

He has been married for 28 years to Jeanne Robinson, a Boston-born writer, modern dance choreographer, and former dancer. The Robinsons collaborated on the Hugo-, Nebula-and Locus-winning novel Stardance (included in the Baen volume The Star Dancers).

Spider and Jeanne met in the woods of Nova Scotia in the early 1970s, and have lived for the last 16 years in British Columbia, where they raise and exhibit hopes.