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Coma Sins: The Madness of Ben Bluman
Coma Sins is a fictional story about a seriously ill man. Ben Bluman is middle-aged and suffers from untreated schizophrenia.
The tale starts with two policemen who, while driving drunk on a particularly nasty night, run into a pedestrian trying to cross a street. Afraid that the man is dead, they try to conceal his body. But the man is not hurt seriously. Suddenly awake yet unable to control his actions, he murders both policemen. Later that same early morning, partly dazed by the accident, he falls against a fire hydrant and passes out.
For the next ten days Ben Bluman is lying unconscious, in a coma, in St. Bernard's Hospital in Chicago. And during that time he relives various parts of his life. He recalls being offered the job of a lifetime in a small and rising company. He remembers being hired on the spot, as CFO and Vice President. He remembers the owner, Bob Janklaw, the employment manager, James Sims and Mary White, Bob's assistant, the brains of the operation. He also recalls the moments of his madness in a local hotel room, where he sees the monstrous image of himself in the hotel room mirror. Those are the moments when he decides to destroy the leadership of the company and the company itself. His plans work out and Janklaw's, Sims' and Mary White's violent deaths are the climax of his rampage. At that point, he seeks help at a hospital for the insane.
This time, however, instead of being treated, he becomes a guinea pig in a government experiment with the seriously deranged, controllable killers. Sent to a special clinic and then fed experimental drugs, he eventually murders a politically inconvenient journalist at the New York Times.
When Bluman finally wakes up from his coma and runs from the hospital, he tries to reenter the world of normalcy though only partly medicated. As a consequence, his insane dreams and sickness continue to hound him. For a few months he works as a private eye in his half-dream state but, during the few moments of his uncontrolled insanity, he confronts a higher up officer of the Salvation Army in Chicago, and without a real cause for his angry outburst, he brutally murders her.
In his last moments of madness, he causes death and destruction at a children's amusement park. Finally, when faced by the police, by now on his tracks, he commits suicide by throwing himself out of his third floor apartment window.
The tale starts with two policemen who, while driving drunk on a particularly nasty night, run into a pedestrian trying to cross a street. Afraid that the man is dead, they try to conceal his body. But the man is not hurt seriously. Suddenly awake yet unable to control his actions, he murders both policemen. Later that same early morning, partly dazed by the accident, he falls against a fire hydrant and passes out.
For the next ten days Ben Bluman is lying unconscious, in a coma, in St. Bernard's Hospital in Chicago. And during that time he relives various parts of his life. He recalls being offered the job of a lifetime in a small and rising company. He remembers being hired on the spot, as CFO and Vice President. He remembers the owner, Bob Janklaw, the employment manager, James Sims and Mary White, Bob's assistant, the brains of the operation. He also recalls the moments of his madness in a local hotel room, where he sees the monstrous image of himself in the hotel room mirror. Those are the moments when he decides to destroy the leadership of the company and the company itself. His plans work out and Janklaw's, Sims' and Mary White's violent deaths are the climax of his rampage. At that point, he seeks help at a hospital for the insane.
This time, however, instead of being treated, he becomes a guinea pig in a government experiment with the seriously deranged, controllable killers. Sent to a special clinic and then fed experimental drugs, he eventually murders a politically inconvenient journalist at the New York Times.
When Bluman finally wakes up from his coma and runs from the hospital, he tries to reenter the world of normalcy though only partly medicated. As a consequence, his insane dreams and sickness continue to hound him. For a few months he works as a private eye in his half-dream state but, during the few moments of his uncontrolled insanity, he confronts a higher up officer of the Salvation Army in Chicago, and without a real cause for his angry outburst, he brutally murders her.
In his last moments of madness, he causes death and destruction at a children's amusement park. Finally, when faced by the police, by now on his tracks, he commits suicide by throwing himself out of his third floor apartment window.
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First published April 16, 2012
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April 27, 2012
Coma Sins
Enter the world of Ben Bluman: AT YOUR OWN RISK: THIS IS REALLY GREAT !
Ben Bluman has created a world within his own mind so diabolical, so horrific and definitely destructive. But, is this world his own form of reality? Is this a world that he created out of the visions, voices and fears that engulfed him on a daily basis? Did Ben Bluman fall prey to an attacker or did he really have an accident causing him to live on the edge of reality? Ben is in a coma. Enter the mind of this man and decide for yourself: Mentally insane, schizophrenic, psychopathic, sociopathic or all of them. You decide. Meet Ben Bluman: Would you want him for a friend?
Just how far will two cops go to cover up a murder? Just how far will the killer go to get even before it is too late for him? Two cops never saw it coming and what happens next only authors Steven Nedelton and Joseph Parente could have created in a plot so diabolical and so terrifying you won’t be able to close your eyes and dream. Coma Sins, The Madness of Ben Bluman, the one book that will definitely give you nightmares and make you think twice before closing your eyes.
Ben Bluman is in a coma. Ben is about to relive more than just his life as we take a look deep into his thoughts, mind and actions. As we meet Ben for the first time he is about to be offered the job of a lifetime in a small and rising company. Ben is hired, on the spot, as CFO and Vice President. Salary really not what he expected but explained as the rise to success would take time and effort proving himself to those in charge. Let’s meet the players of this cutthroat company. We have Bob Janklaw the owner and James Sims the employment manager. Each of these men’s roles is quite unique and different yet if you look closely one is almost what you might call a figurehead. Mary White is Bob’s assistant and the brains of the operation or shall we say she steers him in the right direction since he wouldn’t know which way to go without her. Next, Fred, his stepson gives our Ben the inside scoop on everything. What he reveals about the company is confidential and stays within the mind of Ben and cannot be shared at this time. The setting of this intricate novel is ICU at St. Bernard’s Hospital in Chicago and the year is 1982. Ben’s dreams are quite graphic and the reader is led inside his inner most thoughts, fears and his work place. As we meet the office staff, the bosses and the assistants we begin to wonder exactly what this company really does and what other hidden secrets lie behind the closed doors. Marie White is his go between and the boss’s assistant. Just how powerful is she and what does she stand to gain? When Mike Rich is found dead on Lake Street everyone in the company is information but business as usual continues as if nothing happened.
The author takes us back to the Days Inn and Ben Bluman’s thoughts. He becomes paranoid, hears voices that tell him to take down and kill the people he works with. So, why would some of them wind up dead? What happens when Ben decides to enlighten the spouses of some of the company executives and why do some wind up like Mike Rich? Voices in his head directing his actions or trying to control his actions as Ben and the authors let the reader know that sometimes what we think within our subconscious mind just might be true or come true. But, is what we hear and learn his reality, reality in itself or something else? Crossing this man can prove to be more than just dangerous. Marie White learns the hard way and will many others.
Many would wind up dead before all is said and done. Those that cross his path and defy others will pay a high price. Some will go because the voices are telling him what to do. While he appears to be sleeping Ben sees himself in many different places carrying out the anger he possess against those he works for, thinks are doing the wrong thing and hopes to deplete the world of all of them. Changes in the regime at work and lives ruined and one man just smiles and sits back, dreams or just lets it happen or did it? As the author flashes back to 1971 and a government experiment that our patient, called Peter Smith is now a part of as well as the doctors at this hospital. Sent to a clinic and then given experimental drugs we find Peter Smith using many new names, doing many jobs and eventually back in his bed in Chicago when the plot fast forwards again. One man committed many sins and although he might be in a coma he is managing to relive all of the evils he has done to so many. Just how he got there and what happened at Ridgewood Clinic is in the patient files and cannot be revealed.
When Ben finally wakes up and tries to reenter the world we learn more about the deceits, lies and dangerous experiments that he has been exposed to and the reader is a witness to the rage, anger and the fear he encountered within himself and the outcome will send chills down the reader’s spine and make you wonder just what really goes on inside these clinics, what experiments are being done and who is Ben Bluman? Author Joseph Parente takes us through the second half of the book and Ben’s actions, his jobs, his lies and the final outcome. What happens when someone has untreated schizophrenia? What happens when the rage sets in and the tragedies keep coming? What happens? A great psychological drama with an ending only these two authors created and one man whose life was in his own mind or was it? Coma Sins: What are yours?
Enter the world of Ben Bluman: AT YOUR OWN RISK: THIS IS REALLY GREAT !
Ben Bluman has created a world within his own mind so diabolical, so horrific and definitely destructive. But, is this world his own form of reality? Is this a world that he created out of the visions, voices and fears that engulfed him on a daily basis? Did Ben Bluman fall prey to an attacker or did he really have an accident causing him to live on the edge of reality? Ben is in a coma. Enter the mind of this man and decide for yourself: Mentally insane, schizophrenic, psychopathic, sociopathic or all of them. You decide. Meet Ben Bluman: Would you want him for a friend?
Just how far will two cops go to cover up a murder? Just how far will the killer go to get even before it is too late for him? Two cops never saw it coming and what happens next only authors Steven Nedelton and Joseph Parente could have created in a plot so diabolical and so terrifying you won’t be able to close your eyes and dream. Coma Sins, The Madness of Ben Bluman, the one book that will definitely give you nightmares and make you think twice before closing your eyes.
Ben Bluman is in a coma. Ben is about to relive more than just his life as we take a look deep into his thoughts, mind and actions. As we meet Ben for the first time he is about to be offered the job of a lifetime in a small and rising company. Ben is hired, on the spot, as CFO and Vice President. Salary really not what he expected but explained as the rise to success would take time and effort proving himself to those in charge. Let’s meet the players of this cutthroat company. We have Bob Janklaw the owner and James Sims the employment manager. Each of these men’s roles is quite unique and different yet if you look closely one is almost what you might call a figurehead. Mary White is Bob’s assistant and the brains of the operation or shall we say she steers him in the right direction since he wouldn’t know which way to go without her. Next, Fred, his stepson gives our Ben the inside scoop on everything. What he reveals about the company is confidential and stays within the mind of Ben and cannot be shared at this time. The setting of this intricate novel is ICU at St. Bernard’s Hospital in Chicago and the year is 1982. Ben’s dreams are quite graphic and the reader is led inside his inner most thoughts, fears and his work place. As we meet the office staff, the bosses and the assistants we begin to wonder exactly what this company really does and what other hidden secrets lie behind the closed doors. Marie White is his go between and the boss’s assistant. Just how powerful is she and what does she stand to gain? When Mike Rich is found dead on Lake Street everyone in the company is information but business as usual continues as if nothing happened.
The author takes us back to the Days Inn and Ben Bluman’s thoughts. He becomes paranoid, hears voices that tell him to take down and kill the people he works with. So, why would some of them wind up dead? What happens when Ben decides to enlighten the spouses of some of the company executives and why do some wind up like Mike Rich? Voices in his head directing his actions or trying to control his actions as Ben and the authors let the reader know that sometimes what we think within our subconscious mind just might be true or come true. But, is what we hear and learn his reality, reality in itself or something else? Crossing this man can prove to be more than just dangerous. Marie White learns the hard way and will many others.
Many would wind up dead before all is said and done. Those that cross his path and defy others will pay a high price. Some will go because the voices are telling him what to do. While he appears to be sleeping Ben sees himself in many different places carrying out the anger he possess against those he works for, thinks are doing the wrong thing and hopes to deplete the world of all of them. Changes in the regime at work and lives ruined and one man just smiles and sits back, dreams or just lets it happen or did it? As the author flashes back to 1971 and a government experiment that our patient, called Peter Smith is now a part of as well as the doctors at this hospital. Sent to a clinic and then given experimental drugs we find Peter Smith using many new names, doing many jobs and eventually back in his bed in Chicago when the plot fast forwards again. One man committed many sins and although he might be in a coma he is managing to relive all of the evils he has done to so many. Just how he got there and what happened at Ridgewood Clinic is in the patient files and cannot be revealed.
When Ben finally wakes up and tries to reenter the world we learn more about the deceits, lies and dangerous experiments that he has been exposed to and the reader is a witness to the rage, anger and the fear he encountered within himself and the outcome will send chills down the reader’s spine and make you wonder just what really goes on inside these clinics, what experiments are being done and who is Ben Bluman? Author Joseph Parente takes us through the second half of the book and Ben’s actions, his jobs, his lies and the final outcome. What happens when someone has untreated schizophrenia? What happens when the rage sets in and the tragedies keep coming? What happens? A great psychological drama with an ending only these two authors created and one man whose life was in his own mind or was it? Coma Sins: What are yours?
August 28, 2016
I hope to read this book someday. Steven Nedelton is a great author and he writes great books. I am giving this book a 5 stars even though I didn't read it is because I expect it. If not, I will be clearly dissappointed.
July 14, 2012
Coma Sins – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
From next door a woman shrieked. Anger, white, blazing fury came over him. Was that damn Mary screaming again? “Kill her. Kill Mary. Kill Janklaw. Kill Sims,” the voices urged him. The nearest lamp’s light was so harsh it was blinding him. He grabbed it by the stem and smashed it into Mary’s door. The noises stopped. The room was in pleasant darkness now but the dim lights from the street made strange, infuriating shadows across the window panes. And then the telephone rang and it continued ringing deafening him. He grabbed the apparatus and threw it on the floor. The ringing topped. “Use the lighter on the drapes. Start a fire. Let everything and the hotel go up in blazing hell,” the voices suggested. That seemed reasonable. He heard a knocking at the door. A strange baritone voice was asking some nonsense. “Is everything okay, Sir?” “Damn you!” he shouted in response. “Jump from that window! Go, open it and jump!” the voices encouraged. “End the misery on the pavement” Then, a dead quiet… Oblivion.
If a person is mentally ill and commits a crime, even a deadly one, is he responsible for his actions? Apparently the law says no. They are sentenced if found guilty but to an institution or hospital, not prison. And if they are ‘cured’ they can be released to start it all over again.
Ben Bluman may not have been sentenced for his crimes but he did have himself hospitalized to prevent himself from committing more. He even agreed to experimental treatments provided by the government but did they help or make him worse? His only choice was to escape their hold on him, change his name and continue his life. Did this work? Apparently not since people continued to die. But is Ben really committing them? As he sleeps he ‘dreams’ of events leading up to their deaths so did he actually commit them or are they simply dreams?
Coma Sins is a deep story of a man who did and didn’t commit the crimes that he will eventually be blamed for. How do you commit yet not commit a crime? You can be insane or you can dream them. Question is, which did Ben do or did he do both?
From next door a woman shrieked. Anger, white, blazing fury came over him. Was that damn Mary screaming again? “Kill her. Kill Mary. Kill Janklaw. Kill Sims,” the voices urged him. The nearest lamp’s light was so harsh it was blinding him. He grabbed it by the stem and smashed it into Mary’s door. The noises stopped. The room was in pleasant darkness now but the dim lights from the street made strange, infuriating shadows across the window panes. And then the telephone rang and it continued ringing deafening him. He grabbed the apparatus and threw it on the floor. The ringing topped. “Use the lighter on the drapes. Start a fire. Let everything and the hotel go up in blazing hell,” the voices suggested. That seemed reasonable. He heard a knocking at the door. A strange baritone voice was asking some nonsense. “Is everything okay, Sir?” “Damn you!” he shouted in response. “Jump from that window! Go, open it and jump!” the voices encouraged. “End the misery on the pavement” Then, a dead quiet… Oblivion.
If a person is mentally ill and commits a crime, even a deadly one, is he responsible for his actions? Apparently the law says no. They are sentenced if found guilty but to an institution or hospital, not prison. And if they are ‘cured’ they can be released to start it all over again.
Ben Bluman may not have been sentenced for his crimes but he did have himself hospitalized to prevent himself from committing more. He even agreed to experimental treatments provided by the government but did they help or make him worse? His only choice was to escape their hold on him, change his name and continue his life. Did this work? Apparently not since people continued to die. But is Ben really committing them? As he sleeps he ‘dreams’ of events leading up to their deaths so did he actually commit them or are they simply dreams?
Coma Sins is a deep story of a man who did and didn’t commit the crimes that he will eventually be blamed for. How do you commit yet not commit a crime? You can be insane or you can dream them. Question is, which did Ben do or did he do both?
March 25, 2014
Who is the Villain Here?
When Ben Blumen is not strangling or stabbing people, or throwing them out of a window, he seems like a nice enough guy. He has a job, he has a friend and work colleagues, he has a nice apartment, goes out to lunch and dinner, and he even has dates. I found myself rooting for Ben, almost all the way to the end of “Coma Sins,” this excellent crime noir thriller written by Steven Nedelton and Joseph Parente.
Right from the beginning of this suspenseful story, Ben had my sympathy as he escapes from two policemen who ran him down while driving drunk and are about to finish him off. Even when he kills the cops, I was still in his corner. With two against one, Ben was the innocent and injured party at this point. As the writers wind this tale tighter and tighter, I was not easily persuaded of Ben’s guilt. Even when I realized that Ben suffered from schizophrenia. I questioned who was at fault. The government that used Ben in its own sinister conspiracy? His shrink who played along? The doctor who gave him medication, not to control Ben’s illness, but to turn him into a puppet that does the government’s bidding? The web of lies and deceit that leaves Ben unsuspecting of the truth is so enormous that my sympathies stayed with him almost to the end. Like Ben, while he lies in a coma, I never knew what was the truth or the nightmarish dreams of an innocent victim.
Well done, Steven Nedelton and Joseph Parente! In the audio book version I listened to, William Depuy does an excellent job of narration.
When Ben Blumen is not strangling or stabbing people, or throwing them out of a window, he seems like a nice enough guy. He has a job, he has a friend and work colleagues, he has a nice apartment, goes out to lunch and dinner, and he even has dates. I found myself rooting for Ben, almost all the way to the end of “Coma Sins,” this excellent crime noir thriller written by Steven Nedelton and Joseph Parente.
Right from the beginning of this suspenseful story, Ben had my sympathy as he escapes from two policemen who ran him down while driving drunk and are about to finish him off. Even when he kills the cops, I was still in his corner. With two against one, Ben was the innocent and injured party at this point. As the writers wind this tale tighter and tighter, I was not easily persuaded of Ben’s guilt. Even when I realized that Ben suffered from schizophrenia. I questioned who was at fault. The government that used Ben in its own sinister conspiracy? His shrink who played along? The doctor who gave him medication, not to control Ben’s illness, but to turn him into a puppet that does the government’s bidding? The web of lies and deceit that leaves Ben unsuspecting of the truth is so enormous that my sympathies stayed with him almost to the end. Like Ben, while he lies in a coma, I never knew what was the truth or the nightmarish dreams of an innocent victim.
Well done, Steven Nedelton and Joseph Parente! In the audio book version I listened to, William Depuy does an excellent job of narration.
May 26, 2014
This is a psychological thriller that will have you questioning your own sanity. As Ben Bluman lay in a hospital bed, in a coma, he revisits his past crimes in his mind. He leaves a long trail of dead bodies behind him. But not once does he exhibit any remorse. He is used by the government for his schizophrenic tendencies. He manipulates reality and events.
If he had been helped by professionals at some point in his life, he might have been able to overcome his destructive tendencies. However, his own doctors used him for their own selfish reasons.
Does he get what he deserves? Could he have been helped? Should we feel sorry for him? You decide.
If he had been helped by professionals at some point in his life, he might have been able to overcome his destructive tendencies. However, his own doctors used him for their own selfish reasons.
Does he get what he deserves? Could he have been helped? Should we feel sorry for him? You decide.
January 27, 2015
Whaaaaaat??? I'm so confused. Doesn't help that I had audio issues the last half of the book. I think this is a book that needs to be read in 1 sitting.
Narrator did a great job though.
Narrator did a great job though.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews