KILLING TIME is a psychological novel about crime. The hero, Joseph Detweiler, is the world's most courteous, sensitive, sincere and likable killer. He is even innocent of the fact that a crime has been committed.

This tough and bizarre story breaks all the rules. It is not a whodunit, because the killer is already known. It is not a detective story or a sociological treatise on crime, because it is told from the point of view of the criminal.

"Detweiler is one of the most complex characters in modern fiction...the eeriest thing about him is that he is wholly believable, which is to say, of course, that Thomas Berger is a magnificent novelist." (National Review)