By featured reviewer and interviewer
Laurel Johnson
www.midwestbookreview.com
MBR Bookwatch

Conspiracy of Fear
by E.L. Burton

E. L. Burton has done it again. His yet to be titled book delivers an intriguing and believable read, as did his first book, $oft Money. This author's engaging easy-going style of spinning fiction yarns is what makes him stand out from the crowd. His characters are multi-dimensional, the dialogue realistic.

This time around, the protagonist is Dr. Henry Stone, an intelligent, insightful Medical Examiner who leads a quiet, solitary life. His ordered, self-contained world is shattered when a stranger tells him he will be working on the body of a teenage boy, and to ask himself one question. "Why?" The dead teenager does turn up as predicted, as well as the body of the message-bearing stranger. The teen has gone ballistic and killed several classmates before dying. The stranger's throat has been slashed from ear to ear. When the news reveals a rash of unexplained mental meltdowns and violence throughout the country, Stone has the uneasy hunch that each case might be connected.

Detective Christopher Berkley is an old-style cop who thrives on dogged investigation and closing cases by the book. His peers describe him as a cross between a pit bull and Sherlock Holmes. When the F.B.I. horns in and pulls both cases out from under him, Berkley is first pissed, then suspicious, and finally more determined than ever to find answers.

Alexandra Fletcher is an investigative journalist who plans to write an expose about teen violence and its causes, until her preliminary investigation tells her something isn't right about the case. What few clues she has lead her to question Stone and Berkley. It's when these three get their heads together that they know these cases and others around the country are not simply random acts of violence.

Enter the bad guys. Pierce Thornhill is C.E.O. of Thornhill Pharmaceuticals. He's omnipotent, wealthy beyond measure, and a little touched around the edges. Thornhill has one mission in life, to rewrite the Constitution and eliminate the right to bear arms. To this end, he's resurrected an outlawed drug called AXIS13 - a drug developed for a one time cure and purpose - influencing pending gun control legislation by causing violence across America. His partner in crime is Max Hunsaker, Director of the C.I.A. Hunsaker is bored and looking for a way the C.I.A. can be returned to its former glory and position. Cutler Dawson, dubbed "The Reaper" carries out with gusto the unsavory acts assigned by Hunsaker. Dawson is a man devoid of conscience, who "remembers his kills fondly, like most people remember their first kiss."

Make no mistake; Thornhill et al know just how to choreograph a good conspiracy. From hacking the computers of innocent citizens, to planting incriminating emails and websites as evidence, they do whatever it takes to muddy the waters. And they are more than willing to murder anyone who gets in their way, including Stone, Berkley and the lovely Alexandra.

E. L. Burton's new novel is exciting and thought provoking from first page to last. I give it an enthusiastic recommendation, and eagerly anticipate his next creation.