Neil McMahon

The world is going crazy around Tom Crandall in Neil McMahon’s L.A. Mental. His brother, Nick, calls him in a paranoid frenzy, probably drug-induced. When Tom finds him, Nick literally jumps off a cliff. His sister, Erica, has been receiving threats. His brother Paul is involved in a film project with a charismatic figure that he follows with a cult-like intensity. And those are the only strange things happening — all over Los Angeles, people are going on destructive rampages for no discernible reason. Is there a connection?

The story gets better — and stranger. The film project looks very much like a cult. The project’s leader, Gunnar Kelso, is a former physicist, a brilliant scientist whose ideas may have gone off the deep end. Now he has a posse of Beautiful People — actors, writers, producers and the wealthy elite — huddled around him, turning over their cash and following his instructions, all in a bid for power. Kelso promises that his organization, Parallax Productions, can lead its members to immense personal power.

Basically, imagine Scientology is real, and not a hoax dreamed up by a sci-fi writer. You’ve got some similar concepts — pneuma and Gatekeepers and other crazy stuff — along with the promise of great power, tremendous secrecy and the requirement to hand over a lot of money. They also tend to go after the people who decline their invitation to sign up for the craziness, and that’s the position Tom finds himself in. Strange things begin to happen and Tom has to ask himself: is this a scam or is it real?

There’s evidence pointing in both directions and the great fun of the book is the way it wavers back and forth. First, we get a tidbit that clearly says it’s a scam; next, something completely inexplicable happens. It’s a good mystery, lots of turns and twists, and plenty of moments where you think you know where it’s going, but you’re wrong. It’s not particularly scary, but there’s plenty of action and lots and lots of questions. This was a fun read that would make a very interesting movie.

My one big criticism is the ending. There’s a bit too much cloak and dagger and then a rather abrupt full stop. There’s a bit of a teaser for a sequel, but it didn’t leave me panting after the next book.… (meer)

Living in Southern California means being accustomed to movies finding yet another way to destroy Los Angeles and seeing all kinds of novels written about our fair or not so fair city. Given how stressful this city can be for its inhabitants, I was intrigued when I saw the title for bestselling author Neil McMahon’s newest psychological thriller, L.A. Mental. There are lots of things that could cause Angelenos to go mental, not least of which is their commute every day. Neil McMahon has taken a lot of the elements intrinsic to LA and woven them together into an exciting, smart new take on the psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat! Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=1929… (meer)