The Scourge

by Nick Sharman

Why did TV personality Anne Warren suddenly drive her car off the motorway at manic speed? How did Alan Brown drown in his own bathroom? What made a Soho porn merchant hurl himself under an underground train? What terrible evil caused widowed Mrs Anstruther to die of fright? As the third mysterious death occurs private investigator Kiley starts to put together a horrifying pattern. But soon there are six victims… and Kiley’s search for the truth becomes a desperate race against time. The trail leads to Project Alpha—a diabolic force that releases psychic demons. And it’s in the control of a madman obsessed with the desire for revenge…

Genres: Horror

Kindle Edition

First published March 4, 1980

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’ve ever suspected that garden variety MAOI antidepressants, when taken in unusually large amounts, can actually give you telepathic powers which then enable you to hack into your enemies’ minds, discover their worst fears, and then somehow give them super vivid hallucinations of said fears coming to life, hallucinations which then kill them to death via heart attacks, well, spoiler alert, but YOU WERE RIGHT!!! Bonus points if you guessed that the aforementioned antidepressant-induced telepathic powers can also be used to animate and control all the coma patients in the ICU, zombie style.

I guess Depeche Mode was right about the significance of large amounts after all:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t-gK...

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little pulpy novel that reminded me of Herbert's early work. Our main protagonist, Kiley, works as a private Dick in London after quitting the police force. This starts with him being driven from a party, where he managed to get drunk and beat up. He awakes in the car and starts chatting with the driver. Well, just as he started to get to know her, she freaks out, going crazy behind the wheel. Kiley manages to bail out just before she crashes and burns. What the hell?

Like Herbert, Sharman then introduces a wide range of characters, many of them meeting their demise in bizarre ways. Kiley, clueless at first, manages to meet up with the sister of the driver, Mary, and they hit it off. Mary has no clue why her sister went bonkers, but some other people she knows also seemingly took a plunge off the deep end to their death. Kiley, the old detective skills in top form, vows to find out what the hell is going on, and it turns out to be a doozy...

While the overall plot is pretty thin, a common issue with these 'dreadfuls' being pumped out in England in the 70s and 80s, Sharman writes well and overall gives the story a good pace. Kiley has to be one of the most hard boiled private eyes I have encountered; I lost count how many times he took punches and quaffed booze, not to mention bailing from a car going 70 MPH at the very start! I have read a few other Sharman novels-- always good for a pulpy good time! 3.5 hard boiled stars, but I just cannot round this one up.

[Grady Hendrix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did you know that if you take too many antidepressants you'll gain mind control powers that allow you to animate a gaggle of brain dead ICU patients into your own private zombie army? Science!

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Down on his luck private detective Kiley is getting a lift home from a party with a glamorous TV presenter who, when entering London, has some kind of seizure and crashes the car, killing herself. Drawn into the situation, it quickly becomes obvious that more people are dying in suspicious circumstances and Benson, the boss of a big drugs company, seems to be at the root of it. Published in 1980 (and reading very much like late 70s James Herbert), this has to be considered against the times it came out and, as such, it’s not that bad a read. The characterisation isn’t bad, the set pieces are pretty good and the sense of location is excellent, off-set by some ropey dialogue, a strained sexual interlude and the corniest denouement ever. Benson’s motives are clear and well played, but how he chooses to take his revenge is amusing at best, unbelievable at worst. Not bad, of its type, but you’d need to love gritty British horror from the 70s to enjoy this - which I did.

[Jenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to read a stupid little horror book, and this delivered. This is STUPID. But man...it is funny. Okay, I'm going to spoil it, but first, I also want to say I thought this book was about rats, right up to the last page...it is not. If you want a book about rats...this is not her!

Okay, so the premise of this is that a bunch of people are getting picked off, seemingly scared by something unseen. Also woven throughout is commentary about how England is going to the dogs because Black people live there and so do The Gays--this book is the first time I've read the f-slur by a hero character, taken in complete seriousness, so warning on that.

Turns out, what's killing them is a pharmacy mogul who is using GASP antidepressants to mind control people into seeing the scariest thing they can fathom--most oftentimes it's something really racist or homophobic instead of something fun like a snake with a gun.

The reason he is killing this "random" assortment of folks? Well...they all met at a ski lodge, and they took this guy's young son on a hiking trip without his parents, held that boy over a gorge by the tiny ankles, and accidentally let 'im drop!

I laughed until I cried. If a group of adults--a rockstar, a psychiatrist, two missionaries, a TV personality--all decided they should hold a ten year old boy over a rocky gorge by the ankles, I think taking them out may be a choice of natural selection.

Still, the bigoted writing is awful, so I think if you read my review of this book, you're getting all the camp without being subjected to all the bullshit.

[Mikepottz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A number of people are going to die by their fears and are connected by a tragic accident whereby a rich fellow will extract revenge via a new drug which causes the ability of telepathy. Yes it is bloody bonkers. Not as gory as a typical sharman book. Do like the creepy hospital scene with mass telepathy of zombie induced patients.

[Sean Newgent · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF: 50%

While competently written and exhibiting a lot of qualities that had me really wanting to like it, The Scourge is, at the end of the day, a very boring book. In the first half a number of bizarre deaths occur while a private investigator is trying to unravel exactly why. We are constantly introduced to a number of new, one-dimensional characters who are instantly killed while the investigation has little action or excitement. There are no real supernatural events that shake things up or add a little spice to the otherwise bland story.

Ultimately the book comes down to a big ol': Who cares? The cover, a bloody eyeball, is as eye-catching as a horror cover can be but the content will even put those without eyelids to a blissful sleep.

What a shame.

[Signor Mambrino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great.

[Vincent Darkhelm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nick Sharman's best novel.