NEXT OF KIN

Skelter presents a horror thriller about a gay serial killer romance in New York City.

Jacob Mallory may seem like a mild-mannered graphic designer in his early 30s, but when the urge strikes him, he’s not above stabbing someone with a cheese knife in a Tribeca restaurant. Still, he’s careful to avoid capture and avoid identification as a serial killer. Naturally, he’s quite surprised when he’s summoned to Bellevue Hospital by someone he doesn’t know: A young man named Nathan McGuire is there after an apparent suicide attempt. Nathan happened to have Jacob’s business card in his wallet, making him a point of contact. When the young man is released, Jacob decides to take him home, thinking it should make for an easy kill. There’s only one problem: Jacob quickly takes a liking to Nathan; he may even love him. But just as it seems that the troubled newcomer could tame the monster’s heart, it’s revealed that Nathan is not who he claims to be—and has a plan of his own. Skelter’s work moves quickly, alive with sex, violence, and plot twists. Some of the grim serial killer talk is familiar, as when Jacob mentions the “spiraling darkness” inside him. Likewise, the satirical moments can be on the nose, as when Jacob scoffs at someone who “did some unimportant job at some mid-level company producing something for no one in particular”—the type of thing one would expect from, say, the protagonist of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho (1991). Still, Jacob’s odd touches of humanity make him a very different beast than Patrick Bateman, and Skelter is adept at building anticipation around his actions: If Nathan stays in the picture, how will he fit into Jacob’s life? Overall, it’s a fast-paced and thoughtful tale about killers craving some companionship.

A page-turning story of murder and unexpected love.