Novella

Written in 2003

New-York. In October 2002, I followed the news of the D.C. sniper attacks, random shootings from a van a few blocks away. What stayed with me after the arrests wasn't the body count or the mechanics of the setup. It was a single question: What if it wasn't random?

Story no. 05 / Novella

The Marksman

Can a single human connection puncture a lifetime of psychopathy?

Caleb has spent twelve years as a long-range marksman for a rural crime clan. He was taken in as a kid, fed, trained, and turned into a weapon. For most of his life, that seemed like a fair trade.

Then someone from his past reappears, someone he wasn’t supposed to care about. Everything after that goes downhill very fast.

A taut, unsettling novella about loyalty, family, and the narrow space between obedience and choice.

Sidenotes

The Marksman: Preface
The Marksman: Chapter One
Caleb was interviewed for Precision Rifle Magazine - The Boy Who Doesn’t Miss
Luna is mentioned in Creating Art With My Everbook
Caleb is mentioned in Hannibal Lecter Was Not a Psychopath. Here’s How to Recognize a Real One.

It feels like she's looking through the scope the wrong way round, straight into my eye.
The Marksman