Detective Philip Dorian of the 16th Chicago Precinct is called to investigate the serial killing and mutilation of retired, former pedophile priests in the Chicagoland area. It becomes later discovered that Monsignor Joseph Kilbane, chief of staff to the Cardinal, had previously approached his childhood friend, Anthony 'Little Tony' DiMatteo to lend him a "hit man' to commit the murders of these pedophile ex-priests for their insurance money. Although the plot sounds interesting, Little Tony isn't interested, and the Monsignor abandons the idea. During the reigns of prior Chicago bishops and cardinals over the last fifty years, many of these former pedophile priests were allegedly, forced to resign and sheltered away from criminal prosecution, with the caveat that they allow the Archdiocese of Chicago to be the beneficiary of their large life insurance policies. These policies were taken out on these former priests 'as a form of penance for their lives of being sexual predators'. With the inumerant sexual child abuse lawsuits that have been currently filed and settled by the Archdiocese, they are now on the brink of bankruptcy. A serial killer is now out there, and Monsignor Kilbane has no idea who is perpetrating these gruesome homicides, essentially framing him and the Archdiocese for these "Pedophile Priest Murders". The Archdiocese of Chicago is on the brink of bankruptcy due to all the lawsuits it has to pay to the victims of paedophile priests. The only way to survive is to start selling off property. The administrative chief of staff, Joseph Kilbane (Fr. Joe), second in charge to the Cardinal has a brilliant idea. How about killing off all those retired paedophile priests and collect on their life insurance policies which were forced on them by the previous Cardinal when they retired? Fr. Joe takes his brilliant idea to Little Tony, his childhood friend who is also a notorious mob boss. Little Tony will have none of it and they both agree that it is a bad idea. Now there is a serial killer on the loose killing off all the paedophile ex-priests. All the evidence is now pointing to Fr. Joe. Who is the person performing all these executions? Can Fr. Joe be proven innocent? This is the intriguing story of A Rose From The Executioner by Edward Izzi. The author doesn't waste time but dives right into the story. The chapters interchange between characters, events and timelines. The author shows us the history of the targets and their present lifestyles. He also lets us into the progress made by police. The writer skillfully serves us with different suspects. It is only later that the author revealed the true culprit to the reader and the reader becomes privy to the schemes of the culprit. Most of the story is told in the third person but Detective Dorian is allowed to narrate in the first person. The case is very frustrating for him at first and I got to experience the stress and pressures of the job of police officers. I enjoyed the steady pace of the book. The interweaving was confusing at times, but the switching of stories helped to keep me interested in the story. There were many twists and turns which kept me on the edge of my seat. The book was very enjoyable. I also enjoyed the descriptions of different facets of the investigation such as departmental rivalry, politics and managing journalists. I would like to warn other readers that the book contains incidences where characters use profane language. It also contains a few erotic scenes which were not described in detail. Anyone who enjoys crime-thrillers will enjoy this book. I do not recommend it to children due to the graphic details of the murder scenes as well as the subject of child abuse. Members of the Catholic Church may find it offensive although the writer tried to keep everything in balance. Online Book Reviews New to the work of Edward Izzi, I relied heavily on the dust jacket synopsis for this one, which pulled me in quickly. The same can be said for this fast-paced mystery that mixes great police work with the darkest aspects of the Catholic Church in America. Izzi stuns readers with the complexities of this story, though it remains highly readable. Recommended to those who enjoy multi-faceted crime thrillers that leave little time to rest, as well as the reader who can handle raw focus on Catholic sexual abuse cover-ups. I had no idea that this is the type of story that would emerge from this book. I am not complaining in the least, but it is by no means a light or easy read. The reader is subjected to a great deal of raw and intense writing by Edward Izzi, who lays it all out there and lets things progress as they will. Phillip Dorian appears to play the protagonist role, trying to crack this case wide open and working under veils of secrecy and pressure from the Church to let things be. Izzi develops his protagonist with some interesting backstory, a divorced man with children and a grandchild, who still has a strong connec