The Unnatural

by Alan Nayes

The first victim, brutally assaulted, literally dies of fright in the emergency room, and Dr. Julie Charmaine must find out why. A psychiatrist, an advocate for battered women, and a noted sleep researcher, Dr. Charmaine has only two clues to the beautiful young woman's she reeks of the city's sewers and her last word was the Spanish slang for monkey. Vicki Zampisi, tormented by twin memories of terror and lost love, begins an odyssey of vengeance. But when she is attacked in the run-down hotel where she was once betrayed, she is put under the care of Dr. Julie Charmaine, and the terrified woman's dreams reveal there is more to this cold-blooded serial killer the L.A. press have dubbed the "Sewer Stalker" than Vicki is letting on. Eager investors have rewarded Dr. Wesley Kovacs lavishly for his groundbreaking cryonics research and he will let nothing stand between him and the Nobel Prize--not even an experiment that has gone horribly awry. THE UNNATURAL is a twisted horror tale of cryonics, sex, revenge, murder and the bizarre hybrid creature that leaves an entire city cowering in fear.Alan Nayes is the author of the spellbinding sci-fi apocalyptic series, The Resurrection Trilogy (GARGOYLES, PLAGUE, RESURRECTION), and the giant cat thriller, SMILODON. ABOMINABLE is his most recent release. For a complete list of books, please visit anayes.com.

Genres: Mystery

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 2, 2011

About the author

Alan Nayes is the author of numerous novels and short stories. He resides in Southern California.

Reviews

[Nettie Biegler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

It was an exciting book, lots of turns and twist with a surprise ending, Schocking. Very scarey, fast moving, I would recommend it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written Robin Cook style medical thriller. Dr Julie Charmaine has a new patient who seems to be connected with a slew of murders commited by the Sewer Man. Can she and Det Matt Guardian figure out where the killer will strike next or will Julie be the next victim. An excellent way to spend a day in the sun!

[ARLENE CORONADO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unnatural Indeed!

Had me from the start, which I love a book to do. I never saw it coming, . But Ben, you dirty dog you.!

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

the wow factor in this book is a big one. i have to say the only reason i gave this a 5 star was the twist. this book starts off with DR. julie charmaine who is a sleep DR. julie has a sleep lad in the hospital where she studies peoples dreams and the meaning behind them. while working one night a woman is brought in that has been badly beaten and near death. julie is asked to help in the womans care and quickly get dragged in to a wild and deadly string of murders, a serial killer and a mad scientist. shortly after this a woman named vicky is brought into a hospital with a similar tale as the woman before. julie winds up striking a friendship with vicky and tries to help her all she can. this is where a detective matt comes in on the story whos is trying to catch the man who is behind all the attacks and murders. instantly matt has a connection with juile who is just as much interested in matt. from here matt and juile work together to try to catch the man who is killing all these people with vicky being the main source of information. Vicky seams to think that an old boss who happens to be a well-respected scientist is behind all this in some way and can help stop it. theirs just one small thing thats overlooked that makes all the difference.

[Richard Mendenhall · Rating 2 out of 5]

What?

First of all, despite a two star rating, for the most part, I really enjoyed this book. I liked the hero and heroine, if you can call them that. I liked Vicki, Eisler and Kovacs. The coroner may have been my favorite character, but some of the stupid things these characters did just defied reality. "Wait here." Yeah, right. Don't go alone. Okay. Whatever. What really ruined this book for me were three things. Julie's dreams at the end, Julie's last known relationship with Matt and the what I thought was silly, final revelation. I just felt totally ripped off by that ending and explanation that was way off the credibility scale. A different ending might have elevated this book to four stars for me. Story had great potential but ultimately fizzled.

[Cathy Gudger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I didn't see that coming!! This was a good book. I'll be reading more of Mr. Nayes' books in the future.

[John Cunningham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way to many words and not enough action. Also, vague on many situations.

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

Story: 2/10
What could have been an interesting scientific mystery became a trite and predictable piece of drivel after the first hundred or so pages.
The suspense was lacking: I figured out what Ben was, what had happened to him, and how the story was going to play out within the first quarter of the book.

Characters: 4/10
I didn't really care for the characters. Few of them felt genuine, and it seemed like their relationships and histories were thrown in for no reason other than "a book needs characters".

Writing: 5/10
Not impressive but not horrible either. At times, however, it felt like Nayes was offering us a science lessons that weren't pertinent to the story, as if to say, "Man, I'm a doctor. Look what I know."

Overall: 2.5/10
Not impressed with this book at all. I felt unclean after reading it.

Not recommended.

[Stacy Eaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I could give half stars, this one would be a 3.5.

Mr. Nayes did a great job with his writing style on this book. The knowledge that he showed in his writing was excellent, but for me it was personally over my head. I found myself skipping through a lot of the technical and medical references.

I did enjoy the storyline - and thought it was very creative. The characters were good - and there was enough depth to give some good insight on them and make them appealing.

Someone who is very much into medical mystery's, enjoys and understands the medical references made in this book would probably find this a 5 star book.

I do enjoy Mr. Nayes stories and will continue to read them as they are released.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kept me on the edge of my seat. Dr. Julie Charmaine takes on a new patient, Vicki Zampisi, during a series of murders. Their meeting becomes part of the investigation of these murders. Through many surprises and twist in the story, an unexpected ending is presented. Alan Nayes has given me yet another reason to read books like this.

[Paula Hebert · Rating 2 out of 5]

a decent enough medical thriller, unnatural takes us into the world of cryrogenics and of course mad scientists. add a handsome detective, a lovely doctor, and some really creepy murders, and there you are. like I said, decent enough, but it didn't keep me awake reading.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got bogged down in all the scientific jargon & couldn't keep the victims straight. However, it had a pretty good storyline with an unexpected, perverted twist at the end. I've read better...

[Kimberly]

too much murder stalker for me, didn't read

[Tom Hall]

Enjoyable read. Liked the pace of the book and the straightforward plot.