The Interloper, a description

[Published by Handsel Books / Other Press, 2007]

All Owen Patterson wants is a normal life and a happy marriage. But a year after the senseless murder of his brother-in-law, his wife remains in mourning and his in-laws won’t talk about anything but their dead son. The murderer, Henry Joseph Raven, is in prison, but to Owen, that isn’t punishment enough. Owen embarks on a quest to “balance the scales of justice,” writing letters to Henry Raven under the pseudonym Lily Hazelton. His plan: seduce the murderer, then break his heart.

As Owen pursues his self-appointed mission, Lily Hazelton develops into a curious amalgam of details from his imagination, snatches of his difficult childhood, and memories of his cousin Eileen, a suicide who was his first true love. Bringing together an epistolary game of cat-and-mouse and the harrowing record of one man’s psychological collapse, The Interloper is a compelling and original debut from a bold new writer.