The Slayer's Apprentice - Zathyn Priest

After sixteen bizarre murders and the abduction of a child, The Crucifix Slayer’s reign of terror ends as abruptly as it started. Four years later another two bodies are found and Australia’s most notorious serial killer has returned with a vengeance.

When Senior Constable Daniel Hart catches bartender Phoenix Love from picking his pocket one evening, it’s an inauspicious beginning but Daniel soon becomes obsessed with the anti-social eighteen year old. Things become more complicated when Detective Somerset, who’s been on the trail of The Crucifix Slayer, sets his sights on Phoenix as the prime suspect.

Convinced that Phoenix Love is the killer, Detective Somerset pursues him single-mindedly. As evidence, and Phoenix’s sociopathic behaviour, point toward Somerset being right, Daniel must protect their fledgling affair, his own heart, and his lover while trying to prove Phoenix is innocent.

Is Phoenix Love a victim or has Daniel fallen for The Slayer’s apprentice?