Ambrose (Superstition; The Man Who Turned into Himself) weaves a tale of duplicitous doppelgengers in this supernatural thriller. George is a quiet academic writing pseudoscience books for fun, supported by his rich, gallery-hopping wife, Sara. But his father's death triggers an avalanche of coincidental events from the appearance of old photographs of him with people he doesn't remember to an encounter with his own double, Larry, a crook on the run who has no qualms setting "jerk-off George" up for the hit men Larry is evading. Of course Larry, after assuming George's identity and faking amnesia, could have no idea that the female detective he's been sleeping with in exchange for information on "himself" would also have had an affair with rising lawyer-turned-politician Steve, who's having an affair with Sara. And no one, including the reader who by now will be wondering why the author has further complicated his narrative with references to Jung, Koestler and the I Ching could foresee the massive metaphysical conspiracy Larry and George are literally yanked into. It simultaneously explains their interrelated problems while confronting them both with an altogether more dangerous one. Ambrose clearly enjoys drawing twisty plots from inexplicable events, and he throws in just enough scientific explorations of synchronicity to justify the otherwise mystical explanations with which readers must content themselves. There is a surprisingly (or perhaps coincidentally) predictable ending to this unpredictable thriller, which undermines some of its punch, though not its author's cleverness. National advertising.
Only a few people know who Charlie Monk really is. Is he, as Monk himself believes, a highly trained government hit man? Or is he merely the laboratory fodder of scientists conducting mind control experiments? Ambrose, who has previously dabbled in such reality benders (Coincidence, etc.), handles this one with confidence, twisting the plot gently at first, then with a hard, satisfying crank toward the end. In between government hits, Monk leads a casual life in Los Angeles, partaking in the usual pleasures sought by virile young men. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., Dr. Susan Flemyng toils away on the leading edge of her specialty: replacing visual memory in the minds of amnesia victims. She is doing so, however, under duress. A secret government organization has kidnapped her son and won't give him back unless she oversees several experiments. Monk, it turns out, is one of them. Ambrose has several surprises in store, including government planners who want to create a fighting force of warriors with human intelligence and simian brawn. Monk figures out much of what's going on, and he doesn't drag his knuckles in seeking vengeance. Featuring an intriguing cast of characters who never turn out to be quite what they seem, this latest from Ambrose provides several hours of exhilarating diversion and a scary glimpse of scientific possibilities.
Hollywood Lies is a collection of seven suavely bewitching stories, all with a Machiavellian twist at the end: Marilyn Munroe as virtual reality's most valuable asset . . . A fading film producer whose impending death becomes the ultimate career break . . . A screenwriter terrorized by the character he creates - a force that refuses to die, either on screen or off . . . An outsider's vengeance on one of Tinseltown's royal families, which is also the greatest performance of her life . . .
Against a backdrop already larger than life, each scenario mixes the mysterious with the supernatural in a toxic cocktail of malevolent wit - Hollywood's glitter balancing on a scalpel edge of madness.
Rick Hamilton has the perfect life; a great career, a wonderful son and a beautiful wife. Until one day, everything changes. Something - a premonition? A terrifying fantasy? - happens to Rick. Who is the man in the horrifying fatal car crash? Why is his wife crying at the scene? Who is the man she is calling Richard? And why does she deny they have a son? Rick Hamilton has become trapped in a terrible, strange new life, in which nothing will ever quite make sense . . .
Parapsychologist Sam Towne believes that ghosts come from the human mind, not from "beyond". To prove his theory, he invites eight volunteers, including skeptical reporter Joanna Cross, to take part in an experiment. In a series of seances they invent "Adam Wyatt," a tragic Revolutionary War hero, and are thrilled when he starts rapping on tables and spelling out messages. But when members of the group begin dying in horrifying ways, it becomes clear that Adam has taken on a strange and dangerous life of his own -- one feeding on their very thoughts and emotions. Now Sam and Joanna must destroy Adam before he destroys everything in their world -- and even the love they have found for each other turns into an endless, terrifying, inescapable nightmare...From cult classic author David Ambrose comes a story based on the true case of an experiment into the paranormal, a story that will change forever the way you feel about...
