Calculus of Death

In this psychological thriller—a darkly humorous satire of political and academic intrigue and violence—Billy Durant, raped at the age of six in a foster home, becomes a serial killer and world-renowned behavioral economist. A deeply angered, troubled, and brilliant youth, he lands in a prestigious university, where he becomes a fan of libertarian Ayn Rand and free-market economics. Considered a mathematical and economic genius, he is recruited by the Chicago Economic Institute to develop and execute a series of cost/benefit models that lead to devastating consequences. Later he is funded by right-wing Oklahoma oil-rich brothers to promote free markets, tax cuts, and gun rights. Behavioral economics turns out to be the perfect public outlet for Billy’s private rage and violence. His life is a maelstrom of sanctioned and secret murders fraught with guilt and moral conflict. In middle age Billy hooks up with Rosa Honecker, a former torturer for the East German secret police. Their life together is filled with emotion, passion, secrets, kinky sexual adventures, and through it all an intense struggle against their violent histories and murderous impulses. The story ends as Billy and Rosa approach old age, with startling denouements for them both.