When you watch the news, especially the reporting of world events, you get the impression that there is a pandemic, not of an infectious fatal disease, but the spread of violent criminal activity. No place on the planet seem to be immune to the unlawful violation of the innocent. The victims and their frightening ordeals then become the fascinating stories featured on a variety of television programs, magazines and newspaper articles. For the fiction writer, a source of material to use in creating short stories and novels.      Every day the media force us to face the reality of violent crime. As they bombard our senses with graphic images, horrific sounds of victims in desperate struggles for their lives. Whether it is a single individual losing his or her life from the savaged intensity of a ferocious attack, or multiple victims, marred by a vicious assault, the results are the same. The uncomfortable stimuli causes an immediate reaction, we become disgusted by what we've just witnessed and search for an explanation to why one human would want to traumatize another, in such an awful way. Repulsed by the psychotic conduct of mentally unstable individuals, we seek a valid reason for such brutality, but a rational explanation elude us, so we’re left with a nauseated feeling in the pit of our stomachs, a confused and bewildered expression on our faces.      Because of the fear created from constant exposure to these atrocities, our already paranoid minds begin to struggle with the concern for our own personal safety. Fearing we too could become victims, we respond in various ways. Some succumb to feelings of insecurity, the anxiety sparked by fear of a dangerous enemy roaming freely and could strike at any moment and without warning, causes them to change their way of life drastically. They prefer the security of doors with extra locks, guard dogs, and even the protection of guns. Others choose to search for a solution in research, hoping to find a medical or scientific way to explain violent aggression, those prone to it and a way to control its aggressive nature.   As an author of fiction, I have chosen to write about a subject that is as old as the earth itself, murder. Man’s hostile personality, his lack of self-control and the deadly consequences of not having a conscience. Through the characters I create, I hope to share some insight to how these diseased minds function on a daily basis. As I step by step create, execute and control the actions of individuals who have lost their place in society as contributing members once committed to enhancing the quality of life for others, who through circumstances beyond his or her control, have been transformed into antisocial, psychotic lunatics who derive pleasure out of the misery they inflict upon others. Though the characters I create are fictional, the monsters they emulate are real and walk our streets every day, some even live next door to us, so watch yourself, you don’t want to be their next victim.