The Van: A Tale of Terror

John Ball said of this novel: "The series of bizarre and frightful murders described in the pages that follow is based on an actual case, the complete file of which is shat­tering reading."

The setting for the powerful story is the Los Angeles area. The van, a dark-colored one, basic to much of the horror, was not much of a van.

The many victims whose mutilated bodies were discovered were chosen hap­hazardly. There were two killers. The Los Angeles sheriff's office and homicide bureau included many able, well-trained men, used to dealing with murders. But when the tapes the killers enjoyed making were found and played, they were the most horrifying piece of evidence the techni­cians had ever listened to.

The victims were always young ladies—often very young.

Working with the police department was Dr. Flavia de la Torre, a sociologist who had been given a grant to do a study on the incidence of serious crimes com­mitted by men on parole. She was an attractive woman who was an asset—but who wasn't really aware (were any of them?) of the criminal minds she'd be encountering.

The reader should be prepared, too, as he (or she) reads ahead.