Thursday, September 13, 2007
Killer Dreams

When it comes to mystery thrillers I love the work of Iris Johansen. She writes such fantastic thriller novels, I can hardly put them down when I get a new one. The character development is always impeccable and impressive considering most of her novels tends to have 4 or 5 strong characters.

Sophie Dunston is the main gal in "Killer Dreams". She is a strong, independent woman who is divorced and have a ten-year-old son who suffers from night terrors. His name is Michael and he has been suffering from these traumatic terrors since witnessing his Grandfather killing his Grandmother and trying to shoot him, but his Mom stepped in the way of the bullet. (I'd say he has every right to have trouble at night).

Anyway, Sophie is a brilliant chemist who has devoted all of her time to sleep research. Her father suffered from severe insomnia and that is what prompted her fascination with sleep patterns and disorders. She develops a product called REM-4 that ends up having such control over subjects that it is almost as if it brainwashes them into being slaves. Sophie rebels against what she created, insisting it never be used, but Sanborne (her boss) decides it can be the greatest chemical weapon of their time.

Needless to say Sophie quits and as we are getting into the book we find out she intends to kill Sanborne and destroy all of the REM-4 research.

Meanwhile Sanborne has been using the drug on many people along with a General they refer to as Boch. He has turned people into savage kiling machines that lack all emotion. One of the people who ends up escaping the program is Matt Royd. He too wants to kill Sanborne and Boch for that matter. He ends up joining forces with Sophie. You see where that is going, I'm sure.

Another chemist has altered REM-4 to make it stronger, but now the forumla has a very high fatality rate. Sanborne ends up sending people after Sophie and her son, Michael, because he needs her to fix REM-4 so that it won't kill the subjects, only control them. They end up losing everything and having to go into hiding with Royd.

It is easy to imagine where this book will end up, but how the author gets us to that point is full of twists and turns. Once again Iris Johansen has written a compelling novel that has left me wanting to read even more! Predictable at times, it still has enough suspense to keep me turning the pages. Plus, I really, really love her character profiles; excellent development.

Buy it, Killer Dreams!

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    Tuesday, April 24, 2007
    The Consciousness Plague

    A little bit mystery, a little bit sci-fi and a whole lot of inquistive character development kept me glued to "The Consciousness Plague" from beginning to end. For those interested in medicine, serial killers and msyteries you'll find this book a quick read and you'll wish it didn't have to end so soon.

    Paul Levinson out did himself with this story. It is written perfectly. There are a lot of in-depth discussions which involve how the brain communicates and remembers things. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to understand the dialogue, but Levinson wrote it in such a way that I was able to make sense of it and enjoy it.

    Phil D'Amato, our main man, is a NYPD forensic detective. There is a serial killer plaguing his area and the person(s) are strangling women, stripping them and leaving them for dead. At first there doesn't appear to be a motive or connection between the women. In fact, there doesn't even appear to be a suspect until much closer to the end of the book.

    There is another storyline that develops throughout and that involves a flu epidemic that is spreading worldwide. The newly developed antibiotic Ominin seems to kick the bacteria within a week's time, but there is one extreme side effect. It messes with your memory and people are forgetting hours of their days.

    Can you see how Ominin could complicate the murder case?

    Oh and it does.

    The twists and turns that this story takes were rivetting and I may end up reading this one again later down the road. There is some holes in the story with the secondary events and characters, but they can be forgiven overall.

    My score:
    Solid B+

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