Basilisk

August 1, 2009
A genetic researcher must help his comatose wife after she falls victim to a basilisk's stare.

Cee-Zee (that's crypto-zoologist to newbies) researcher Nathan Underhill is at a professional nadir. His latest hybrid, the gryphon, has putrefied before hatching; it's the most recent failure in his series of near-miss attempts to re-create mythological beasts. His grant money cancelled and his future unsure, Nathan has plenty of free time to help physician wife Grace investigate the mysterious deaths at the Murdstone Rest Home. Someone or something has been mysteriously killing inhabitants, leaving no evidence of trauma, and Grace vows to find out how. Sneaking around the Murdstone one night, the couple confirm their suspicion that mad Dr. Zauber has succeeded where Nathan has failed and created a basilisk, the snakelike creature whose icy stare can kill. Convinced that the key to producing these beasts is using human lives to power them, Dr. Zauber insists that Nathan join his quest to create more. When Nathan refuses, the basilisk puts Grace into a coma before disappearing with the mad doctor. Nathan must track them down with the help of his angst-ridden teenage son and an overinvolved cub reporter. In the end, it's hard to know which enemy the crew will find more formidable, Dr. Zauber or his band of beasts.

Masterton (Ghost Music, 2009, etc.) involves readers with fast-flowing action, but saddles himself with a repellent hero.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 15, 2009
Scientific researcher Nathan Underhill's cutting-edge experiments in breeding hybrid creatures for possible use in stem-cell treatments comes to a crashing halt with the death of his prototype, the mythical gryphon. When his wife, a physician, for no apparent reason loses an elderly patient living at the Murdstone Rest Home and when Nathan himself experiences odd dreams, he suspects that the nursing home's owner has created an even more dangerous mythic creaturethe deadly basilisk. VERDICT A master of modern horror ("Manitou Blood"), Masterton excels in gore without splatter and emphasizes the human aspect of horror: the growing uncertainty that "normal" life can, in fact, triumph over the supernatural. Horror buffs and fans of the author will want his latest.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2009
Horror veteran Masterton turns in another winner. Nathan Underhill is a medical researcher working on stem-cell analysis. His goal is to engineer mythological creatures genetically and use them to find cures for diseases like multiple sclerosis and Alzheimers. Few writers would even undertake a novel with a premise as far-fetched as this one; fewer still would pull it off. Even when Underhill discovers that another researcher has succeeded where he has failed and that an actual, living basilisk (a creature that can kill with a glance) may be on a murder spree, the reader sticks right with the story, suspending disbelief utterly and eagerly turning the page to see what happens next. As usual, Mastertontakes realistic human characters and puts them in a fantastic, horrific situation. We know this couldnt possibly happen, but that doesnt matter: in the context of the novel, its real, its happening, and its compelling. Horror fans should welcome this one with open arms.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)