Afraid to Death

"Insanely evocative and extremely satisfying." — The Times (UK)

Joe Egan has spent his life on the run. When he was a child, he thought he saw the angel of death. Now every time someone close to him dies, a mysterious blonde woman appears and he's forced to retreat, abandoning jobs and relationships in a never-ending flight across a hallucinatory version of the United States. Is the woman real, a figment of his imagination, or a supernatural apparition — perhaps even the devil incarnate?
The Guardian praised Marc Behm as "a terrific novelist," adding that "Afraid to Death is a fascinating mirror image to The Eye of the Beholder." Behn's previous novel, also available from Dover Publications, spins a gripping tale of obsession and suspense in which a private investigator trails an enigmatic young woman. But this time the protagonist, a dissolute gambler, is being chased by a female character whose reoccurrences excite both fear and attraction.

In addition to a pair of modern noir classic novels, The Eye of the Beholder and Afraid to Death, Marc Behm (1925–2007) wrote several screenplays, including Charade, starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, and the Beatles' second movie, Help! His acclaimed mystery The Eye of the Beholder has twice been adapted for the screen.