ANATOMY OF FEAR
Nate Rodriguez Novels Book 1
Illustrated
HarperCollins 2007
NYPD sketch artist Nate Rodriguez possesses a remarkable gift. From the smallest clues—an off-hand comment, a brief flash of fear in a victim’s eyes—he is able to create an uncanny likeness of the assailant. Now Detective Terri Russo needs his help to solve a particularly shocking series of murders, perpetrated by a psychopath who enjoys drawing pictures of his crimes before committing them. Nate is being asked to enter the dark, twisted mind of a monster—to re-create a face that no one has lived to identify. But as a portrait slowly begins taking shape in Nate’s mind and on the page, an electrifying game of cat and mouse reaches an unexpected new level—as a brilliant killer uses his own unique talents to turn the investigation in a terrifying new direction…
A breathtakingly original novel of suspense, Jonathan Santlofer’s Anatomy of Fear mixes prose and pictures to create a story that burns its way into the brain and brilliantly revitalizes the crime fiction genre.
Praise & Reviews
Notes on Anatomy of Fear and the drawings
Anatomy of Fear was my first Nate Rodriquez novel, about a police sketch artist who becomes involved in a murder and ultimately solves it. I created Nate, a forensic artist, as a protagonist, so I could have his drawings on the page (drawings that of course I made). I spent a lot of time with followers of Santeria for this book, an important subplot in the story. I even went through a Santerían ritual cleansing in the back room of a Botanica in Spanish Harlem, which Nate does in the book. There are many drawings throughout the book, Nate’s and the killer’s, two men who use art in opposite ways: Nate to solve crimes; the killer to commit them.
Anatomy of Fear won the Nero Award for Best Novel and of my novels, it is one of my personal favorites.
I made all of the drawings with pencil with the occasional addition of red ink.
