One man dances to the music. The other wants to own the song.
Carl Strang was a nobody until he found the notebook. Now, guided by an ancient, rhythmic "Drummer" in his head and a blood-stained diary, he has transformed into a feral force of nature. After a brutal escape from the Meadow View secure hospital for the criminally insane, Carl leaves a trail of "specimens" across the continent, eventually returning to the desolate beauty of the Yorkshire Moors to prepare his final stage.
Dr Joseph Mata, the lead psychologist at Meadow View, has spent years watching Carl through reinforced glass. He doesn't want to cure Carl; he wants to be him. Armed with stolen digital files and a sense of intellectual superiority, Mata convinces a veteran orderly to join him on an unsanctioned hunt for the legendary killer.
As Mata follows the breadcrumbs Carl has left behind, he believes he is a student approaching a master. He doesn't realise that in the "theatre of the flesh," there are no partners - only prey. Diary of a Madman is a visceral, cold-blooded exploration of the thin line between the man who studies the wolf and the man who becomes one.
