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LA MENTAL
by Neil McMahon
Harper, September 2011
304 pages
$24.99
ISBN: 0061340782


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

This deft new thriller combines two unusual elements--a noir mystery and cutting-edge technology--to tell the tale of a family torn apart by a cult-like group. When Dr Tom Crandall gets a late night call from his drug-addled brother, Nick, little does he know where this will lead. It's clear from the outset that something is awry when Nick jumps off a Malibu cliff, clearly agitated by inner demons.

Where author Neil McMahon is taking his readers is to a brave new world. In this mystery novel, the author leads his readers into a cultish world where nanotechnology is used for mind control. The cult is led by a mysterious former physicist whose group, Parallax Productions, is ostensibly focused on making a movie just outside Los Angeles on land owned by the Crandall family.

Parallax has dragged not only brother Nick into its lair, but also Tom's brother Paul, who managed the business deal that resulted in renting the land to the movie crew. However, it seems that Parallax has no intention of leaving the work site, and the movie itself is only secondary to other lethal activities going on. When the police detective who first comes to investigate Nick's jump drops out of sight, Tom takes it on himself to investigate just what led his brother to such madness and the role that Parallax has in it.

Despite Tom's background in psychology, the cult soon begins playing games with his mind as well as those of his brothers (and his new love interest, an actress from the movie set). When the lab at the hospital where Nick was taken after his jump identifies the nano particles, Tom is able to begin putting the pieces of this puzzle together, along with clues from Nick's ransacked house.

Like any good noir mystery, this one leaves readers wondering if the Crandalls can ever truly escape from this mind control system, even long after intelligent agents haul away the cult leader. It's a chilling tale that combines a number of elements: espionage, the use of modern warfare, and psychological drama, all wrapped up in a noir-like setting, to create a story that will reverberate long after the book is finished.

§ Christine Zibas is a freelance writer and former director of publications for a Chicago nonprofit.

Reviewed by Christine Zibas, November 2011

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