Synopses & Reviews
“An electrifying read… I haven’t read anything so terrifying since Red Dragon.” —Stephen King A tale of desire, obsession, and deadly mystery, with echoes of Vertigo
Dr. Caleb Maddox is a San Francisco toxicologist studying the chemical effects of pain. After a bruising breakup with his girlfriend, he is drinking whiskey at the speakeasy House of Shields when a hauntingly seductive woman appears by his side. Emmeline whispers to Caleb over absinthe, gets his blood on her fingers, and then brushes his ear with her lips as she says goodbye. He must find her. As his search begins, Caleb becomes entangled in a serial murder investigation. The police are fishing men from the bay, and the postmortems are inconclusive. One man vanished from House of Shields the night Caleb met Emmeline. When questioned, Caleb can't offer any information. But he is secretly helping the city’s medical examiner, an old friend, understand the chemical evidence on the victims’ remains. Caleb’s search for the killer soon entwines with his hunt for Emmeline, and the closer he gets to each, the more dangerous his world becomes. The Poison Artist is a gripping literary thriller about obsession and damage, about a man unmoored by an unspeakable past and an irresistible woman who offers the ultimate escape.
Review
“An electrifying read… I haven’t read anything so terrifying since Red Dragon.” —Stephen King
Synopsis
A tale of desire, obsession, and deadly mystery, with echoes of
Vertigo
Synopsis
"An electrifying read... I haven't read anything so terrifying since Red Dragon." --Stephen King
"Patient, stylish and incredibly suspenseful"--Lee Child
"Magnificent, thoroughly unnerving...I dare you to look away." --Justin Cronin
A gripping tale of obsession and deadly mystery, where the secrets of salvation and the most devastating desires are all written in blood
Dr. Caleb Maddox is a San Francisco toxicologist studying the chemical effects of pain. After a bruising breakup with his girlfriend, he's out drinking whiskey when a hauntingly seductive woman appears by his side. Emmeline whispers to Caleb over absinthe, gets his blood on her fingers and then brushes his ear with her lips as she says goodbye. He must find her.
As his search begins, Caleb becomes entangled in a serial-murder investigation. The police have been fishing men from the bay, and the postmortems are inconclusive. One of the victims vanished from the bar the night Caleb met Emmeline. When questioned, Caleb can't offer any information, nor does he tell them he's been secretly helping the city's medical examiner, an old friend, study the chemical evidence on the victims' remains. The search for the killer soon entwines with Caleb's hunt for Emmeline, and the closer he gets to each, the more dangerous his world becomes.
From the first pages up to the haunting, unforgettable denouement, The Poison Artist is a gripping thriller about obsession and damage, about a man unmoored by an unspeakable past and an irresistible woman who offers the ultimate escape.
About the Author
Jonathan Moore is an attorney and the author of three novels, including The Poison Artist, forthcoming, and Redheads, which was short-listed for the Bram Stoker Award. He lives in Hawaii.