Of Sound Mind - Softcover

"In Of Sound Mind, James Waltzer crafts an atmospheric tale of betrayal and murder, at once both taut and tender, with a protagonist who must convince the reader as well as the police of his sanity. A sure-footed, highly enjoyable debut." --Gwen Florio, author of Disgraced "This is an absorbing, cleverly constructed and well-developed tale of emergence from the social, physical, and emotional toll of heightened hearing and murder, in an otherwise mundane life. The character development is good. The pace is perforce measured to allow the character development. The plot and writing are excellent." --Library Thing

A slow-boil, modern noir, Of Sound Mind finds audiometry technician Richard Keene settling into his new, center-city apartment just as he reaches his thirtieth birthday. Formerly confined to a mental institution, Richard struggles to adapt to a world of adult freedom. He possesses abnormally acute powers of hearing and suffers from claustrophobia, yet he feels unleashed to dare fate in high places -- in short, he is a bundle of neuroses. When he believes he hears a strangulation murder committed behind the closed door of a neighboring apartment in his high-rise, Richard confronts a chance for redemption that he knew would come someday. For the incident eerily parallels the defining experience of his childhood, the night he heard -- through the walls of his row house -- the death struggle of the little girl next door. But just how reliable are Richard's perceptions?