MANIAC by Patrick Whittaker, Musa Publishing, ebook, $4.99, http://www.musapublishing.com/

Reviewed by David Brzeski

Harry Nyman would rather be playing jazz, and would love the time to finish the opera he’s working on.

Unfortunately for Harry, he happens to be a Detective Inspector in the Chadham Police force. Chadham, a sleepy little coastal town in the North-West of England, has just become the unlikely locale of a series of brutal murders, which Harry has to solve. It seems easy on the surface, because the suspects all confessed. The problem is, they also all claim to have had their bodies taken over against their will by an entity calling himself ‘Maniac’.

Even worse, it seems that Maniac’s ultimate goal in committing these atrocities is to destroy Detective Inspector Harry Nyman! Of course Harry doesn’t believe in black magic and demonic possession… it’s all nonsense, but something or someone is making these people commit the most horrendous acts and Harry means to find out who and why. For that matter, why he is seemingly the focus of Maniac’s attention, and just who exactly is the mysterious Alpha?

This is a superbly written book. Any fan of Police dramas on TV, or indeed crime novels will be immediately comfortable with D.I. Nyman and his partner D.S. Liz Colshaw. The author has such a feel for natural dialogue, that it comes as no surprise to find he has also worked in the stage and film worlds. Whittaker builds the tension brilliantly, as the mysterious villain manipulates Harry at every turn.

Will Harry be driven mad, or will he finally prove that there’s a rational explanation behind Maniac’s seeming ability to control people? To answer those questions would be to reveal too much and ruin the book. Go read it!

This would make for a gripping TV mini-series. I really hope some of Patrick Whittaker’s contacts in the media get to read it.

NOTE: This ebook is available in .pdf, .prc, .mobi and .epub formats from the publisher’s website.