The Devil's Home on Leave (Factory 2)

Which is worse: A psychopathic killer or murderous corruption?

The second book in Derek Raymond's acclaimed Factory Series opens with the chilling discovery of a horribly butchered body abandoned in a warehouse by the Thames. It's obviously the work of a contract killer, but why would a professional leave the body for discovery?

With his usual mix of cunning and nerve, the unnamed Detective Sergeant from the Unexplained Deaths Department stands up to both mobsters and his superiors to get to the truth. He soon finds himself engaged in a harrowing game of cat-and-mouse with a psychopathic murderer who seems to have ties to the highest levels of the British government.

When one of his superiors warns him to back off, saying, "You'll always get the shitty end of the stick," he explains, "Maybe, but I think that's the end where the truth is."