Friday, June 3, 2011

Review of LIQUID FEAR, by Scott Nicholson

A girl brutally murdered in a motel room, the corpse discovered by a man who may or may not be who he thinks he is.

A meeting between two old friends in a coffee shop, interrupted by a driverless car smashing through the wall, barely avoiding crushing them to death.

A long-ago clinical trial of an experimental drug which may or may not have been responsible for a young girl's death; a trial which may or may not have been abandoned by the scientist in charge of the research.

These are the seemingly unrelated events that form the basis for LIQUID FEAR, the new thriller from author Scott Nicholson, the prolific horror/thriller author of such genre standouts as DISINTEGRATION, SPEED DATING WITH THE DEAD and THEY HUNGER, among many others.

This book is as timely and relevent as it is exciting and pulse-pounding. Barely a week goes by without the shocking news of another drug originally approved for use, then pulled off the market due to unexpected and dangerous side effects.

LIQUID FEAR builds on that premise, offering up a psychotically driven researcher who doesn't know when to quit, an upwardly mobile politician, and a group of drug trial subjects a decade removed from an experience they would love to leave in the past but can't quite figure out how to manage it.

The goal of any thriller is to draw the reader into the plot, making him care about the characters and continue turning the pages relentlessly, holding his breath to see what will happen next. Scott Nicholson accomplishes all this and more in LIQUID FEAR, crafting a novel you won't want to put down until you turn the last page.

I highly recommend this book. You'll never look at your prescription medication in quite the same way again.

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