Over the Line

Portia knew from experience that all the passions look alike--love and hate, fear and rage, envy and helpless need...Jimmy Wier was charged with a total of three counts of murder, all elderly women...Blood found on his clothes matched that of two of the victims, and he was also found in possession of some jewelry and an African violet plant taken from one of them. Portia would have to try to discover what had gone on in his mind, and to put those findings before a jury...She had taken Jimmy's case because inside the twisted workings of his mind and soul was something she needed to know--and she wanted to ask him about the African violet...

Portia McTeague is a forensic psychologist, called in by the defense to examine Jimmy Wier, who is charged with two brutal murders that have shocked a sleepy Southern town. A politically ambitious--and morally corrupt--district attorney is determined to get the death penalty, and the accused is unwilling--or unable--to talk, even to save his own life.

Portia is burnt-out--tired of being beaten up by prosecutors on the stand, tired of seeing her clients die despite her best efforts, and tired of fighting her own demons. But she agrees to see Jimmy, and is immediately both seduced and repelled by his craziness. What is it that has made Jimmy Wier cross that fine line that divides sanity from madness?

The more Portia is able to discover about Jimmy's past, the better she is able to understand his pain, until, finally, the last piece of the intricate and ugly puzzle that is "Jimmy the Weird" falls startlingly into place, and the reasons for his actions become immediately clear.

Once you have begun the journey with Portia McTeague deep into the mind of this murderer, you will find it as impossible as she does to draw away from his compelling psychosis.