A local gardening columnist is crucified on her trellis, her favorite flowers at her feet. A week later a middle-aged woman is decapitated, her body slung across a waterfall. How are these killings connected to the nearby town of Arlington, Vermont, former home of Norman Rockwell? It has become the epicenter of a terrifying new art form known as "Blood And Guts," whose practitioners include the elusive figure of The Master and his star pupil, Keith Sentelle, the Albert Bierstadt of murder, who stages bloodbaths among dramatic nature scenes. But even The Master is unprepared when Keith tries to break free of his influence, to become a modern master of death. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Psychopath is John Crane's most complex, chilling creation—an exploration of the cold indifference at the heart of murder, nature, and artistic creation alike. It is an instant classic that will haunt well after the last breathless page.