Over the Line — Faye Sultan

When Jimmy Weir, a not-too-bright but apparently harmless delivery boy (though he is, in fact, a very large man) for the local grocery store, murders and sexually mutilates two elderly women in the small town of Dixon, South Carolina, the defense team calls in forensic psychologist Portia McTeague to evaluate his mental state. If she doesn't deem him insane--or can't convince the jury--he's certain to receive the death penalty.Portia is burnt out--tired of being beaten up by prosecutors on the stand and tired of seeing her clients die, despite her best efforts--but she agrees to see Jimmy. And is immediately both seduced and repelled by his craziness.

The more Portia and her investigative team are able to discover about Jimmy's past, the better she is able to understand his terrible pain--and to relate it to events and suffering in her own past that still haunt her life. Finally, the last piece of the intricate and ugly puzzle that is "Jimmy the Weird" is fit into place and the reasons for his terrible crime become immediately clear. Jimmy certainly doesn't deserve to die, but neither will he ever be sane.