Suspect Zero: A Short Story

In this terrifying tale by New York Times bestselling author Richard Kadrey, a young aspiring serial killer goes in search of a mentor—the supreme, the ultimate killer. What he finds is much greater and much worse than he ever could have imagined.

Waiting among deserted warehouses in the freezing rain, young Gabriel flags down an eighteen-wheeler. What starts as a desperate bid for shelter quickly becomes an initiation into cold, methodical slaughter.

Behind the wheel sits Suspect Zero, a grizzled trucker with no fingerprints, linked to hundreds of unsolved murders across North America. Sharing the cab with this ancient nomad proves far more terrifying than any ambition Gabriel brought into the night.

What happens when an apprentice in murder discovers his teacher isn’t human?

• Forced Proximity: Trapped inside the cab of a speeding eighteen-wheeler, Gabriel must stay on his guard against a companion who keeps a loaded .45 stashed in a plastic lunch cooler.
• Supernatural Suspense: Suspect Zero is no ordinary drifter, but an immortal entity woven into the pavement and concrete, demanding a bloody toll from every traveler on the road.
• Dark Urban Fantasy: The rain-drenched night hides a secret underworld of deserted loading docks, brutal convenience store stickups, and a boundless truck stop diner staffed by a psychopomp named Crow.
• Also by This Author: Sandman Slim, Kill the Dead and The Getaway God.