Recommended reading - The Executioners by John D. MacDonald (1957):

The Executioners

By John D. MacDonald.

Filmed as:

Cape Fear (1962), directed by J. Lee Thompson,

Cape Fear (1991), directed by Martin Scorsese.

Mass Market Paperback.

First published 1957.

Published by Magnum Books.

ISBN 13: 9780417043708

ISBN 10: 0417043708

ASIN: 0417043708

Description:

For 14 years Max Cady had sworn vengeance against the man who convicted him, becoming fired by an insane obsession for revenge. Released from his years of hard Labour he made his plans for Sam Bowden's slow death.