KILLING AGENTS SYNOPSIS
KILLING AGENTS is a psycho-thriller about a writer who has received one too many rejections from literary agents. Morpheus has been working at his craft for many years and has been encouraged by friends and strangers alike that he should contact publishing agents to represent his works. Embarking on his literary quest, Morpheus sends countless queries to agents, all of whom reject his work. One day Morpheus reaches his limits with the singular profession he’s dealing with and conjures a plan to kill as many agents as he can, but not in a random way. He first singles out agents he thinks went too far in their replies. Notably, those who included snide personal remarks in their rejection notices.
Because Morpheus comes from a diverse background, including former training in black ops programs the Government never talks about, he sets his diabolical plan in motion. He moves to New York City where the most famous literary agencies are housed and assumes many identities in order to get closer to the agents on his list. Studying his intended targets, Morpheus learns everything he can about each agent: where they live, the places they frequent, and most especially what their favorite hobbies are. Because Morpheus loved writing more than anything else, only to have his publishing dreams denied, he plans to kill each agent doing what they love with respect to their favorite hobbies.
Before the killing spree begins Morpheus shadows his intended targets. His best assets as a vindictive assassin is patience and methodology in planning every detail. Surprisingly, Morpheus always creates a way to meet each agent he plans to murder while he’s in disguise. Sometimes he delivers mail, other times he waits the table where the agent usually dines. He even masqueraded as a publisher of a new company that was making the rounds with potential agents to promote business. Over the course of three years, Morpheus pursue what he calls the “must kill first list” of agents. Three agents are killed within the course of two months. When the fourth agent is murdered three weeks later, the authorities finally figure out there is a serial killer on the loose and his quarry denote high-profile literary agents. But Morpheus continues to elude the dragnet. By the time the ninth victim is murdered the police and FBI admit they are completely baffled about the murderer’s identity. They are also uncertain about his motives for killing his victims other than the fact the killer seems to have an ongoing vendetta with literary agents.
Killing Agents is a macabre story of cold-blooded revenge that is based on the damaged emotional life of a cruel, resourceful killer who let his ego carry things too far. It is also a clever story in how Morpheus manages to systematically and mercilessly kill his victims. For instance, he discovers one agent on his list loves riding horses in Central Park early in the morning. Knowing the preferred route the agent rides and the best place to kill him, Morpheus ambushes the agent who is thrown from the saddle. Approaching the fallen rider as though he intends to help him, Morpheus breaks his neck instead and makes it look like a typical riding accident. Yet the FBI profiler suspects there was foul play, albeit he has no tangible proof. Other agents meet their doom in similar ways: sailing, hiking, bicycle riding, and dining out in expensive gourmet restaurants, to mention some. There is one agent Morpheus decides to confront, however, before killing her. She loves driving around in her antique Bentley and conducts a lot of business behind the wheel while talking on her cell phone. Morpheus knows one of her favored haunts overlooks the sound near Long Island and tracks her to this remote locale.
Ironically, her literary specialty is the psycho-thriller genre. While she sits in the car, talking to one of her pet clients, stealthily he rigs a packet of C4 beneath the chassis without her suspecting anything. Morpheus also plans to delay detonating the explosive device. First, he tries to lure the agent outside with the excuse his large sheep dog crawled beneath the car but got stuck. Morpheus already knows the agent loves dogs and implores her help to free the dog. When she steps outside, Morpheus hastily takes the cell phone out of her hand and confronts her. By this time, he has already murdered eleven agents on the main list. This particular agent, however, is the first person to actually see his face and is the first time in the story we get to find out more about who Morpheus is and how he thinks. Informing the trembling agent that he enjoys the element of surprise when murdering his victims, he smiles and lets her know he intends to kill her in his own good time. Then he orders the agent back inside her fancy mobile office and tells her to be prepared for the worst. Keeping her cell phone, however, she can’t inform the police until she gets to a telephone. The agent thinks she has a chance to get help and catch the Killing Agent serial killer, as he has been dubbed by the press. But the agent swears to Morpheus she will not divulge his identity and thanks him for at least sparing her life for the time being. She drives away and Morpheus retrieves his bicycle from behind the tree and watches the Bentley drive off in the distance. When the car is a mile or so away, Morpheus presses the detonator switch and sees the explosion. Taking another route through the woods, Morpheus mutters out loud “I think that’s enough killing for the time being.”
Because Morpheus has no prior record for any offense, no one knows anything about him, especially the FBI agent assigned to the case. Before he even set out on his grim mission from his hometown, Cincinnati, Morpheus faked his own death under his original name and created a totally new identity for himself. Morpheus departs for the Caribbean where he opens up his own small publishing company he calls Get-Even Press. It appears he had this intention all along by contacting one of the agents as a prospective new publisher. Morpheus leaves behind twelve dead agents and scores of other agents on his secret list. But all the agents in the city nervously wonder if the mysterious killer will track them down and snuff out their lives one by one. There may even one day be a sequel to Killing Agents called "The Literary Murders."
For the prospective publishing agent, a note of caution: Is this strange story something you think you would be interested in hearing more about? Before you answer, be careful of how you reply. No one really knows who Morpheus is and that is why he has managed to elude the authorities and keep his identity secret. Just be careful what you read in your mail! Be especially careful how you reply if it’s a query letter from a first time writer seeking an agent to get his or her work published!
P. S. I trust some of you have already figured out this alleged agent pitch was meant in jest. Can you imagine the response of an agent had he or she read this synopsis and wondered if it were true or not? Actually, one agent did read the synopsis, and when she wrote back and said she did not represent such writing genre she added the remark, "You aren't serious about this story, are you? I mean, the inherent and intimidating threat?" I merely smiled and never responded!
P. S. I trust some of you have already figured out this alleged agent pitch was meant in jest. Can you imagine the response of an agent had he or she read this synopsis and wondered if it were true or not? Actually, one agent did read the synopsis, and when she wrote back and said she did not represent such writing genre she added the remark, "You aren't serious about this story, are you? I mean, the inherent and intimidating threat?" I merely smiled and never responded!