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Shop nowThe Inquisitor
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Learn moreA spectacularly original thriller about a professional torturer who has a strict code, a mysterious past, and a dangerous conviction that he can save the life of an innocent child
Geiger has a gift: he knows a lie the instant he hears it. And in his business—called "information retrieval" by its practitioners—that gift is invaluable, because truth is the hottest thing on the market.
Geiger's clients count on him to extract the truth from even the most reluctant subjects. Unlike most of his competitors, Geiger rarely sheds blood, but he does use a variety of techniques—some physical, many psychological—to push his subjects to a point where pain takes a backseat to fear. Because only then will they finally stop lying.
One of Geiger's rules is that he never works with children. So when his partner, former journalist Harry Boddicker, unwittingly brings in a client who demands that Geiger interrogate a twelve-year-old boy, Geiger responds instinctively. He rescues the boy from his captor, removes him to the safety of his New York City loft, and promises to protect him from further harm. But if Geiger and Harry cannot quickly discover why the client is so desperate to learn the boy's secret, they themselves will become the victims of an utterly ruthless adversary.
Mesmerizing and heart-in-your-throat compelling, Mark Allen Smith's The Inquisitor is a completely unique thriller that introduces both an unforgettable protagonist and a major new talent.
Mark Allen Smith is a successful television and documentary film producer and screenwriter. The Inquisitor, featuring the controversial hero known only as Geiger, is his first novel. Mark's experience investigating features for the acclaimed ABC-TV news magazine program, "20/20," planted the seed for his debut thriller when he was involved with a story dating from the 1970s about the remarkably brutal torture and murder of a 17-year-old in Paraguay, the last true dictatorship in the Western Hemisphere. He was further inspired to action by the shocking death of Lisa Steinberg at the abusive hands of her adoptive father; this event uncorked ongoing interest in the corrosive effect of physical and psychological pressure on children and other innocents. His journey of research convinced him that the novel was his best way to bring his story to the largest possible audience.
A long-time resident of Westchester County, Mark Allen Smith now lives in New York City’s Harlem with his wife, Cathy, and a blended family of six children. He is presently working on the sequel to The Inquisitor, also featuring Geiger.
Ari Fliakos is an actor with experience in television, radio, film, theater, and voiceovers. His narration of Seth Patrick’s Reviver won an Audie for paranormal fiction. He has narrated Black Site and Tier One Wild by Dalton Fury, as well as Gangster Squad, The Inquisitor, and Shotgun Lovesongs. On screen, he is best-known for his roles in Law & Order, Pills, and Company K.
Reviews
“Ari Fliakos delivers skillful narration in this engaging audio edition of Smith's debut thriller about the professional torturer-for-hire Geiger…Fliakos's clear, confident reading enhances this already darkly suspenseful story, keeping listeners glues to their headphones until the very end.” —Publishers Weekly
“Narrator Ari Fliakos has great timing and dramatic sense. He adds significant color to all the characters. From the intense and well-controlled sessions in Geiger's barber-chair torture station to the musical musings of the profoundly schizophrenic sister of his partner, Fliakos pulls all the strings of the listener's emotions…This is a strange and exciting story for mystery and suspense fans of all stripes.” —AudioFile Magazine
“Smith is an excellent writer. He and Ari Flaikos, an excellent reader, pulled me into a mesmerizing tale about a man who practices the art of "information retrieval" for a variety of customers.” —Tampa Bay Tribune
“Mark Allen Smith writes a compelling narrative that seems more sophisticated and stylized than we might expect from a first-times. He created material that could be potentially offensive – and was in the book's sole torture sequence – and managed to make it an expression of character.” —Winston Salem Journal