BH5-A first edition (stated with complete numberline) hardcover book in very

BH5-A first edition (stated with complete numberline) hardcover book in very good condition in very good dust jacket. Dust jacket and book have some bumped corners, light discoloration and shelf wear. Although not marked in any way, this copy comes from the personal collection of Otto Penzler, legendary editor and founder of the Mysterious Press, an award-winning icon in the genre. A Novel of Psychological Suspense. 9.5"x6.5", 282 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. "Gentlemen, meet the real Billy McIlvain, Creator of Heaven and Earth...." So proclaimed Billy McIlvain to the friends who'd gathered for his sixth birthday party. No one could have imagined on that festive day the twisted future that lay in store for young Billy. Billy's pedigree was distinguished. He was bright and well mannered. If little Billy McIlvain was guilty of anything, it was that he loved too much and too well. But the Billy watched helplessly as the person dearest to him was brutally murdered. The killers not only went free but cashed in on what they had done. The system had failed. For Billy, it would always fail. He was too young to have his revenge, but he would have it when the time was right, no matter the cost. Until that day, he could only wait. His family collapsed. Billy's mother, Grace, survived by plunging into a new career. She was away on business the day Billy's mind began to invent its own reality, the day he began his descent into evil. The papers and TV shows screamed the news of his "inhuman act." He was a celebrity. Girls he didn't know sent him love notes and pictures of themselves naked. They sent him to prison, and he lost a decade and all hope of a normal life. "They say that if you live long enough, you become the person you hate the most…" On his own at last, grown-up Billy is now thirty-three. The all-American boy has become the all-American killer. Necessary Evil is the riveting, demonic tale of one man's obsession with justice in a corrupt world. For Billy McIlvain, justice is out of reach. He must settle for revenge. In the end, no one was safe from him. No one. Anywhere.