When I was in high school in the early 1970s, I recall my English teacher talking about how she was reading William Peter Blatty’s novel “The Exorcist” on a long car trip home: While her husband drove, she sat in the front passenger’s seat with a flashlight, so completely caught up in the book that she couldn’t put it down – despite carsickness, the bad lighting and general fatigue – until she’d finished.

“The Exorcist” scared the bejesus out of me as well, but forget the demonic possession – forget, even, the fashionable Northwest vampires: “Victim Six” (Pinnacle), a novel about serial murder by Gregg Olsen, is one book that will remind you just how much fun a great read really is. A New York Times best-selling true-crime writer based in Olalla, Wash., Olsen knows enough about the evil that men (and women, too, dearies) do in real life not to have to resort to the supernatural to know exactly how to creep you out. After all, he IS originally from Seattle …

Full disclosure: I have the honor of knowing Olsen and read “Victim Six” in manuscript; in fact, I did the initial copyedit on his request (for which I got paid seven big ones), since I copyedit manuscripts for New York trade book publishers for a living. In fact, I read the manuscript TWICE and I can tell you: There are short books that are almost torture to work on, and longer books that pull you right into the story. “Victim Six” was the latter: a compelling mystery with solid, three-dimensional characters, both likable and hateful; dialog that rings true; and a credible storyline … In other words, EXACTLY the kind of novel that made me want to get a job in book publishing in the first place.

As Roald Dahl once said of good children’s books and good ghost stories, good murder novels are “damnably difficult to write.” I know because I’m paid to work on quite a few of them, and even some of the really good ones are good only up until the point where the plot falls apart – the psychopathic sex murderer turns out to be a federal judge, or the ambassador to Liechtenstein, or a nuclear scientist working on the government’s biggest secret weapon, so the Pentagon is covering up his crimes; or else he (or increasingly she: THERE’S politically correctness running amuck!) has some incredibly goofy motive for killing – leaving the reader feeling thoroughly ripped off.

Well, with “Victim Six,” you’ll feel anything but. I won’t go beyond that, except to say that if you live in the Puget Sound area or are from this neck of the woods, “Victim Six” will impress you as a very “Northwest” thriller; if you have no connection with Washington State and don’t yet know Olsen’s work, you’ll soon discover why he is so popular. He knows how to tell a real good story.

WARNING: AmeriCollector.com does not encourage reading “Victim Six” on a Kindle wireless reading device or in book form while driving or as a passenger if you are given to sudden frightened outbursts that can startle or distract the driver. Do not read “Victim Six” aloud to small children, raging-hormone-charged teens or your wimpy significant other as a bedtime story. Read responsibly.

“Victim Six” shipped to bookstores on Jan. 26 and goes on sale in February. Learn more about Gregg Olsen by visiting his Web site: www.GreggOlsen.com. Meet the author himself at one of his upcoming bookstore appearances:

• Sat., Jan. 30, at 3 p.m.: Barnes & Noble, Silverdale, Wash.
• Tues., Feb. 2, at 6 p.m.: Bethel Avenue Books, Port Orchard, Wash.
• Sat., Feb. 6, at noon: Seattle Mystery Bookshop, Seattle, Wash.
• Sat., Feb. 6, at 3:30 p.m.: Borders, Gig Harbor, Wash.
• Thurs., Feb. 11, at 10 a.m.: Mystery Book Club Read, Liberty Bay Books, Poulsbo, Wash.
• Thurs., Feb. 11, “drive-by” signing: Powell’s, Beaverton, Ore.
• Thurs., Feb. 11, at 7 p.m.: Murder by the Book, Portland, Ore.
• Fri., Feb. 12, at 6:30 p.m.: Tea Party Bookshop, Salem, Ore.
• Sat., Feb. 13, at noon: North by Northwest, Lincoln City, Ore.

Purchase Victim Six, by Gregg Olsen! Amazon.com