One of the most common questions people asked me when they found out that I worked inside maximum security turned out to be one of the easiest for me to answer. 
“Aren’t you scared?” So many people would ask me that same question, over and over, each just as intrigued by my answer as the next. The truth is that while I might have been nervous working in one of the most volatile environments on the planet, the kind of fear these people asked me about wasn’t the kind of fear I felt while inside. You see, I knew who surrounded me in each of those prison units. I had no doubt about who it was standing before me. 
It wasn’t until I began working as a prison officer that I realized where the real fear for me came from, and it certainly wasn’t while on the job. No, the real fear for me came from standing in line at the grocery store or at the gas station, waiting to pay for my fuel. The real fear for me came from not knowing who it was, standing behind me. How do you really know who those strangers are?
When it comes to prison inmates, you know which crimes they committed, or at least for most of the time. Yes, there were those who maintained their innocence, of course, and some of them might also be telling the truth, but for the majority, their crimes are fairly certain. Not so the strangers you cross paths with each and every day of your life. The delivery driver bringing your latest online purchase, the checkout operator while you’re out grocery shopping, or even your next-door neighbor. How well do you really know those people?
Crime happens, of that fact there is little doubt. What frightens me, though, is just how many violent crimes go unsolved, with the cases often turning cold within hours of the murders taking place and those responsible seemingly disappearing forever. I’ve got news for you, dear reader. Those people? Those who wielded a knife and stabbed an innocent victim to death, or used a gun to murder a complete stranger? They didn’t just disappear into thin air. They certainly didn’t blink out of existence. They’re still out there, free, walking around within our communities, and certainly capable of committing the same crime over and over again.
While I might have unwittingly supervised innocent prisoners in jail, I have probably crossed paths with an uncharged perpetrator as well. The chances that you have as well are fairly high. I mean, just Google the sheer number of unsolved murders in any given year and imagine each of those perpetrators walking around. And if that number doesn’t grab you, then consider another. Google the number of disappearances each year, people who simply vanished and have never been seen again. 
While some of them might have disappeared for personal reasons, I promise you that for a large majority of those disappearances, those people fell victim to foul play in one way or another. When you consider those kinds of numbers, imagine how many unchecked serial killers could be walking around right now, and some of them right there within your own community. Now, how safe do you feel standing in line at a gas station with a complete stranger standing right behind you?
I have been a fan of true crime for almost as long as I can remember, some of the most prolific killers in history filling my bookshelves with countless publications. Names like Peter Sutcliffe, Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez, and so many more, serial killers with the body counts to match their high profiles. I used to spend hours delving into those books and magazines, living through the horrors those ruthless killers inflicted on their victims. And yet…despite those killers spreading so much terror during their reign, each of their stories had its own kind of closure.
What about the victims with no closure? Where are the ruthless killers of names like Elizabeth Short, Sue Sharp, William Taylor, Michele Brown, and Sarah MacDiarmid? You might have heard some of those names before, but you can be forgiven if you haven’t. Some of them stretch back more than a hundred years, while others may only stir up memories in the people living within those communities. I mention that word a lot because to me, the community is where a lot of these unidentified killers hide in plain sight.
It’s the last two names on that list that I want to bring to your attention, because for me, they bring with them a flood of emotions stretching back several years. That is, if you grew up or lived anywhere near the south-eastern area of Melbourne, Australia, back during the early nineties. Those were the days when a prolific serial killer named Paul Denyer cruised the streets of Frankston and nearby suburbs, with his number of victims eventually reaching three, although several other cold cases have also been linked to the killer.
I remember seeing the Denyer story unfold after his arrest, with the media giving the case a bit of airtime, although not as much as you might expect. These were the days before the internet or social media, which limited the sources of information to either newspapers, radio, or television. You might also find a decent book or two on specific serial killers, but those usually took years to come out, which meant Denyer’s story remained in the background for quite some time.
This isn’t a series I ever thought about writing, not until I received numerous messages from hungry readers wanting more after my Prison Days series. Sharing those experiences inside maximum security paved the way for me to pursue an author career, which I always assumed would continue with thrillers once I ran out of material for my prison series. Not so. With the messages filling my inbox, I began looking for an alternative series to continue my true crime series, but the more I looked, the more I found the same old stories about the same names, the kinds of names the world has read about a hundred times over. I wanted something different.
What I found myself looking for was a story that wouldn’t just make people uncomfortable, but one that brought with it the kind of unease one felt when sensing danger. I wanted to find the kinds of true stories where there is no name for them to look up and find the person responsible for the horror. I wanted to bring the questions to the forefront, the mystery, one where the answer would remain just out of reach. Sarah MacDiarmid is one such story, a tragic disappearance without answers, but one flanked by real horror, the kind that wore a face.
During the course of this book, you will learn about an unknown man’s horrific journey from animal killer to outright murderer. You will meet a man who tormented neighbors and animals alike, daydreamed of murder, and eventually brutalized an entire city for years. And while he might now be serving three consecutive life sentences inside a Victorian prison for those murders, it still doesn’t answer the questions surrounding victims like Sarah MacDiarmid. She remains missing to this day, even after a court ruled that she might have more than likely met with foul play. The real question is whether you believe the same man to be responsible for their deaths.
Killer Unchained is my new series of books exploring the kinds of stories that bring both shock and intrigue. It’s the same kind of emotional steamroller you might experience when reading about the history of some of the world’s most well-known serial killers, but with one subtle difference. Their victims aren’t the only voices calling out from the graves, some of which have never been found. This series brings voices to those long-forgotten souls who ended up losing their lives in ways nobody could imagine. 
Let me ask you this. Are you ready to walk in the footsteps of those lost souls and bear witness to the events leading up to their untimely demise? Are you ready to try and seek answers from the available evidence, to carefully peel away the layers, and try to give closure to the families still seeking answers after all these years? Killer Unchained is about bringing you the cold, hard facts about a case that shocked a nation, but where the investigation ultimately failed to provide the answers so many desperately needed. Let me introduce you to the voices of the past, the ghosts still wandering the shadows seeking justice, and the questions keeping the neighborhood lights on at night.