Dark Revelations

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.); Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England; Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd); Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd); Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi–110 017, India; Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd); Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Published by Dutton, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First printing, January 2012

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Zuiker, Anthony E., 1968–

Dark revelations : a Level 26 thriller featuring Steve Dark / by Anthony E. Zuiker with

Duane Swierczynski. p. cm.

ISBN : 978-1-101-56309-0

I. Swierczynski, Duane. II. Title.

PS3626.U35D375 2011

813’.6—dc23 2011033065

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

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To Uncle Denis Scinta, my biggest fan

I
t is well-known among law enforcement personnel that murderers can be categorized as belonging to one of twenty-five levels of evil,
from the naïve opportunists starting out at Level 1 to the organized, premeditated torture-murderers who inhabit Level 25.

What almost no one knows is that a new category of killer has emerged. And only one man is capable of stopping them.

His targets:
Level 26 killers.

His methods:
Whatever it takes.

His name:
Steve Dark.

WILL
YOU
STEP
INSIDE
THE
LABYRINTH . . . ?

chapter 1

LABYRINTH

T
he homeless man sways back and forth, back and forth, on the street corner just across from the big gleaming white phallus of Los Angeles City Hall.

He’s either preparing to cross the street or keel over and die.

But he won’t die.

Not yet, anyway.

After a few moments he wipes his brow, hoists the box under his arm, then ambles across the street.

Good puppet.

Watch him walk through the neatly designed plaza, enter the front doors of the gleaming new Police Administration Building, and make his way right up to the smooth polished wood partition of the security checkpoint.

The homeless man stands there and waits for a guard to see him, just as instructed.

Guard asks,

Help you?

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