MIRROR IMAGE, a complex, erotic novel of suspense, is the first in a series of mysteries featuring Dr. Daniel Rinaldi, a psychologist who consults with the Pittsburgh Police. His specialty is treating victims of violent crime—those who’ve survived an armed robbery or kidnapping, but whose traumatic experience still haunts them.
Kevin Merrick, a college student and victim of an armed assault, is one of these people.
A fragile, troubled kid desperate for a role model, a sense of identity, Kevin has begun dressing like Rinaldi, acting like him, mirroring his appearance. Before Daniel has a chance to work this through with his patient, he finds Kevin brutally murdered. Stunned, he and the police suspect that he, not Kevin, had been the intended target.
Feeling responsible, Rinaldi is determined to help find the killer, who’s begun leaving death threats for the psychologist. His journey takes him through a labyrinth of friends and colleagues, any one of whom may be the killer. It also includes an affair with a beautiful, free-spirited Assistant DA with secrets of her own. And when Kevin’s identity as the estranged son of a Bill Gates-like biotech giant is revealed, the investigation of his murder turns into a national story…even as another person turns up dead.
A page-turning novel of suspense, MIRROR IMAGE weaves together a puzzling mystery, full of unexpected twists, with an intense, erotic love story.
Praise for Mirror Image
“Dennis Palumbo establishes himself as a master story-teller with his first crime novel, Mirror Image. Using his background as a licensed psychotherapist to good advantage, Palumbo infuses his fast-moving, suspenseful story with fascinating texture,
interesting characters, and the twists, turns and surprises of a mind-bending mystery. Very impressive.” --- Stephen J. Cannell (writer/creator of The Rockford Files; New York Times best-selling mystery author)
“Mirror Image is a rich, complex thriller, built around a sizzling love affair. A compelling read, with surprising twists and characters that leap off the page.” --- Bobby Moresco (Oscar-winning writer/producer of Crash and Million Dollar Baby)
“Mirror Image is a deviously plotted thriller with lots of shocks and surprises you won't see coming, and a smart, sympathetic hero-narrator who takes you along as he peels back layers of lies and wrong guesses to get closer to the truth.” --- Thomas Perry (Edgar-winning, New York Times best-selling crime novelist)
“Dennis Palumbo’s experience as a psychotherapist hasn’t just helped him make his hero, therapist Dr. Daniel Rinaldi, authentic, human and a man in full, it’s endowed him with the insight to craft a debut thriller filled with action, deduction and romance, expertly paced for maximum suspense.” --- Dick Lochte, award-winning author and critic
“Dennis Palumbo’s novel is stark and disturbing but there’s a humanity running through the core of it that makes this book special. Maybe it’s Palumbo’s dual training – as a writer and as a psychotherapist – that allows him to plumb the depths and bring up not only darkness but those occasional diamonds of light that sparkle and illuminate and make a book worth reading.” --- T. Jefferson Parker (Edgar-winning, New York Times best-selling author of The Renegades and Iron River)
"Mirror Image is a standout mind-bender! A wonderfully constructed novel that has you seeing double -- and all through the eyes of an intriguingly fresh character: a psychologist. Dennis Palumbo knows his craft. This guy can write." --- Ridley Pearson (New York Times best-selling crime author)
