On the same night, a mile away in the West End, a shotgun blows the top off the head of Felix Roatta, part owner of the seedy Parallel Club.

Autopsy results compound the puzzle: Suarez was dying of AIDS, but the pathologist is unable to determine how she had contracted HIV.

Then a photo, supplied by a former Parallel hostess, links Suarez to Roatta, and the detective's inquiries at the nightclub reveal her vile and inhuman exploitation.

Cook’s notoriety crested following the 1990 publication of what many consider his best – and most repulsive – work: the tortured, redemptive tale of a masochistic serial killer, I Was Dora Suarez.

Robin Cook read some excerpts of his novels in a live performance with background music by the alternative rock band Gallon Drunk.