Beware! A serial killer is on the loose and he’s coming to Jim Thorpe.

Jeff Davis has written his fifth novel, a supernatural thriller titled “Isabella,” and it promises to deliver to his readers a page-turning, edge of your seat experience just like his previous four books have done.

“Isabella” tells the story of a killer who escapes during a field operation. Other than his ability to do his dirty deeds and avoid the authorities, the clairvoyant killer, Jonas Blackheart, with the perfect last name, can see inside the mind of CIA intelligence operative Emma Locke. She is convinced that he is back on the hunt and her mission is to put an end to his killing spree.

As the body count piles up, Emma is faced with stopping an invincible killer who cannot only read her mind, but also knows the buried secrets within her own tainted past.

The novel is the third in a series by Davis following “The 7th Jackal” and “Jonas Blackheart,” (“The 7th Jackal, Book Two”), but he has crafted this tale for new readers who might just want to jump into this story without having read the last two.

“This book can stand alone,” he said. “It was hard for me to write because characters from the first two novels in the series have grown up. I also had to be sure I kept my storyline in sequence through ‘Isabella.’”

He adds, “I put the first two books into an audio program where I can listen to them so I could be certain that everything fell properly in order.”

Using what he knows

Like most authors do, Davis sets his latest work in a place where he grew up, a familiar environment that has all the nooks and crannies that visitors might not know about.

“Most of the book takes place in Jim Thorpe, my hometown, a place I’ve had the pleasure of haunting in several of my novels,” says Davis, who categorizes his stories as “biographies turned inside out.”

He often writes past midnight and through the early morning hours before he is to start his day job working in the Carbon County Administration building.

Davis is no master puppeteer of the people he invents within his imagination.

“My characters surprise me,” he explains. “They build their world as the story progresses rather than me creating one for them. Some of them shine with unexpected courage while others gravitate toward the dark side.”

In “Isabella,” Davis portrays his villain as a man who is pathological, but also has human traits just like anyone else.

Jonas Blackheart is a character readers will hate, but they will also feel sympathy toward him and root for his psychological recovery. Davis likes to craft his characters around the likes of the kid who never gets picked when choosing sides for a basketball game or that person who stands in the corner at a party and is too shy to mingle with the crowd. He incorporates bullies into his stories, who as he says are “like wolves that travel around in packs and hunt down those who are too weak in the social structure to defend themselves.”

Childhood experiences

As a boy, Davis and his friends often climbed Mount Pisgah in the heights of Jim Thorpe. Pisgah reminded him of an ancient battleground and offered a “magical view” of the world below. This experience led him to enjoy writing down his thoughts in a journal.

While at home, he loved watching horror movies and reading the novels of Stephen King and Dean Koontz. His favorite book is Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” about the trial of two young men arrested for murder in Kansas.

His love for the written word inspired Davis to write his first novel, “Nesting with the Loons,” a satire about the burdens of blue-collar life brought upon by the established bureaucracy.

The humdrum life provokes one man to escape from reality that ultimately leads to him being framed for murder.

His second book, “Crude,” places a killer and a car salesman into the midst of apocalyptic mayhem. Power outages and a scarcity of food make the salesman believe that he and the murderer may be the only two people left on earth.

“The 7th Jackal” is also set in Jim Thorpe, where a girl is brutally murdered and a young boy vanishes without a trace.

His fourth novel, “Jonas Blackheart,” brings back the serial killer who Emma believes has murdered her sister. Emma feels compelled to seek revenge while knowing she must keep him alive to prevent a national catastrophe.

Not done yet

There is more to come from this prolific author. He is currently writing two new novels and says, “I’m not sure yet which one is going to win out to become my next book.”

Davis holds a philosophical perspective about his creative writing and its parallel portrayal of real life.

“Fiction is a gift box,” he says, “but underneath the wrapping paper is the core truth.”

He invites his readers into a world where trust and doubt swing back and forth like tennis players volleying for strategic advantage.

“I want my readers to feel safe and comforted by my stories, right up to the moment that the monsters smash down the door.”

“Isabella,” published this past December, is lauded by one reviewer as “a gripping psychological thriller that simmers with American violence and a wire hooked to the heartstrings, pulling harder, page after page, to its stunning finale.”

Jeff Davis’ novels can be purchased on Amazon Books in paperback and e-book formats. They can also be purchased at Soundcheck Records on Broadway in Jim Thorpe. “Isabella” will be available in an audio version on Audible and iTunes in April.