Edge of Madness (A True Crime Quickie - Book Four)

By Kim Cresswell

Edge of Madness - A True Crime Quickie is the fourth book in a compelling series of true crime short stories for readers who don't have time to read a full-length novel.

"The Story of Joseph Kallinger" examines the horrifying account of a knife-wielding shoemaker who kills under the command of Charlie, a floating head.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kim Cresswell
• Release date: Apr 10, 2017
• ISBN: 9780995057838

Kim Cresswell

Kim Cresswell resides in Ontario, Canada. Trained as a legal assistant, Kim has been a story-teller all her life but took many detours including; working in legal and adult education before returning to her first love, writing. Her debut romantic thriller, REFLECTION, has won numerous awards: *RomCon's 2014 Readers' Crown Finalists (Romantic Suspense) *InD'tale Magazine's Rone Award Finalist (Suspense/Thriller) *UP Authors Fiction Challenge Winner (2013) *Silicon Valley's Romance Writers of America (RWA) "Gotcha!" Romantic Suspense Winner (2004) *Honourable Mention in Calgary's Romance Writers of America (RWA) The Writer's Voice Contest (2006) Kim's short novel thriller, LETHAL JOURNEY, was a finalist in From the Heart Romance Writers (FTHRW) Golden Gate Contest (2003) and more recently won RomCon's 2014 Readers' Crown (thriller/suspense). Her action-packed thrillers have been highly praised by reviewers and readers. As one reviewer said, "Buckle up, Hang on tight!" Kim recently entered the true crime writing arena. Real Life Evil - A True Crime Quickie (two short stories) was published in January 2014. You can read her latest true crime stories in Serial Killer Quarterly, a new quarterly e-magazine published by Grinning Man Press.

Book preview

EDGE OF MADNESS

THE STORY OF JOSEPH KALLINGER

Kim Cresswell

Edge of Madness

The Story of Joseph Kallinger © 2017 by Kim Cresswell

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

Cover Art © 2017 by No Sweat Graphics

Published by KC Publishing

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9950578-3-8

First eBook Edition: April 2017

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Dedication

For Justin, Carla, Porter and Peyton

In memory of Mary Beech

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.

- From a headstone in Ireland

Joseph Michael Kallinger was born at the Northern Liberties Hospital in Philadelphia on December 11, 1936, to Judith Renner an unwed mother who gave him up for adoption soon after his birth.

Two months before his second birthday, Joseph was adopted by Catholic Austrian immigrants, Stephen and Anna Kallinger. But growing up with his new adoptive parents was far from the loving and nurturing relationship most young children experience. Instead, Joseph's upbringing was unloving, cruel and sadistic due to his mother, a strict disciplinarian, and his father an abusive German immigrant.

Anytime he got out of line his parents would whip him with cat-o'-nine-tails, hit him with a hammer, made him keel on jagged rocks and sandpaper, locked him closets, burned with him irons, forced him to eat excrement, starved him, and would make continuous threats of castration to ensure he did as he was told.

In the fall of 1943, at age six, Joseph suffered a hernia due to being kicked in the groin by a girl. Even though he claimed he didn't do anything to deserve the kick, his parents punished him anyway. After his hernia was repaired his parents told him that doctors had done the surgery to keep his bird (Bird was the word used in