Chaos Theory

October 1, 2007
Masterton has been writinga blend of horror and crime fictionfor so long (he began with The Manitou in 1975) that youd think he might be running out of things to say. Not so: his latest is as suspenseful as anything that came before it. When Noah Flynn, a Hollywood stuntman, finds an ancient medallion bearing strange markings, he does what most of us would do: he tries to find out what the markings mean and how old the medallion really is. Seems a simple enough thing, but soon Noahs ex-girlfriend is murdered in front of his eyes, a dear friend is also bumped off, and nasty men are after Noah. Eventually he teams up with a beautiful aide worker, who has also been targeted by mysterious pursuers, and together they uncover a dark secret that probably should have been left well enough alone. Mastertons novels generally feature intriguing stories peopled by realistic, believable characters, and this ones no exception. While his prose is, and always has been, rather workmanlike, his books never fail to entertain their intended audience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)