Description

Serial-Killer Joe Haid, named the Painkiller by Chicago police and press, killings 18 people--all paralytics. Instructed by an invisible presence that he calls wi'Father" and that speaks in the voice of an uncle whose rotting corpse he retains in the living space, Haid destroys his victims (what's left of them) and proof in a way that puzzles police. Hardest hit are citizens of Marclinn, a house for the disabled, where heirs choose they have to find the madman themselves. They are brought by their efforts into connection with Chicagois strange underworld--including buff/murderers and a prostitute whose mind develops out her torso--and their very own true selves.