“A psychologically incisive novel that compellingly asks whether evil can be eliminated by destroying the very essence of what makes us human.” — IndieReader ★★★★

Dr Caroline Aldridge treats violent men the justice system can’t fix.

Her patients don’t relapse. They disappear.

In her boutique Sydney practice, court-ordered offenders arrive smug and untouchable—surgeons, executives, repeat abusers who know how to perform remorse. Caroline listens. Diagnoses. Documents. Then she intervenes.

When a man in mandated treatment dies in a high-speed crash with no skid marks, no one looks twice. Then another vanishes. Then another.

Homicide detective Maria Radik does. She sees a pattern of missing men nobody mourns, each flagged in clinical records, each tied—quietly, clinically—to the same name: Dr Caroline Aldridge.

As Maria digs deeper, the picture grows more disturbing. Caroline’s influence extends beyond her own practice. A discreet network of clinicians routes cases through her orbit—through consults, referrals, and “treatment.” Someone is weaponising therapy across an entire system, choosing targets and delivering justice with surgical control.

But Maria has her own history. And part of her understands the logic.

As the investigation tightens and Caroline’s methods escalate from coercion to something far darker, two women move toward collision—one who’s decided the system is broken, and one who’s starting to agree.

THE DISSOLUTION PROTOCOL is a dark psychological thriller about power, punishment, and the seductive certainty of playing God.

For fans of Sharp Objects, The Witch Elm, and My Sister, the Serial Killer.

Praise for The Dissolution Protocol

"A well-calibrated moral and intellectual thriller, effective because it's also a genuinely thrilling read thanks to its powerhouse protagonists." — Independent Book Review

“Dermot excels at ethical worldbuilding, forcing readers to wrestle with whether what’s happening is evil—or disturbingly necessary.” — IndieReader

"Caroline is chillingly compelling and Maria viscerally sympathetic." — Independent Book Review