The Family Man by Michael S. Patterson

About the book

The Family Man is a suspense novel that follows the path of a insanely lonely man who's rage created his loneliness. He lost his first family in a violent manner as they tried to flee his torment. As this story opens, Frank Mallory has decided to "replace" that family with one of his choosing. He sets out for and kidnaps a pregnant woman to begin a new life as a husband and father. He whisks Ellen Sommers to a secluded compound in British Colombia, Canada to raise his new family in a cleansed atmosphere. To avoid a search for this missing woman, he frames her husband for murder.

Eric Sommers is tried and convicted of killing Ellen. The prosecution focused on blood evidence found in their apartment and both automobiles. The blood in the cars was planted by Frank, the blood in the apartment was simply misfortune for Eric. The hype surrounding the trial accused Eric of an affair with Ellen's fraternal twin sister, Cheryl Delaney. This gave the prosecution the motive for the killing. Frank kills several people on his way to his new utopia and this crime spree begins to catch up with him as both U.S. and Canadian federal officials are on his trail. A jailed Eric receives a strange postcard that he is convinced is from Ellen and he sends Cheryl and a private investigator north to search for Ellen.

Frank's world slowly begins to unravel as the pieces of three different investigations converge on the town closest to his retreat. In a last ditch effort to share eternity with Ellen, he decides on a murder/suicide pact.

About the author

Michael S. Patterson grew up in Western Massachusetts and obtained his B.A from Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont and his law degree from Loyola Law School. A former trial lawyer, he currently serves as in-house counsel for a television network. Michael, his wife Laura, and their three children live in Southern California. The Family Man is his first novel.