F9 by Michael McBride_Review

Review of F9 by Michael McBride

Michael McBride is a very special author, with a wildly creative imaginative gift. I’m so thankful as a reader that I’ve discovered his works. “F9,” his newest novella, is an electrifying psychological suspense story, with plenty of violence for the splatterpunk aficionados, coupled with high-intellectual science and wonderfully depicted character motivation. He even edges the story with almost speculative fiction, in terms of the premise and its outworkings. “F9” literally kept me on the edge of my seat, as I raced through it in one short sitting, eager to turn the page and learn more. At the conclusion, I felt deeply emotionally and psychologically satisfied.

“F9” is the story of Dr. Harding, who “discovers” the Mile High Syndrome:  a steady and astoundingly terrifying increase in violent crime—specifically mass murders, or multiple murders committed at one time in one setting—on Colorado’s Front Range. His search for environmental factors and genetic mutations leads him to study neurophysiology and neuropsychology, even to the point of examining an early killer’s brain.