Neil McMahon’s newest novel, L.A. Mental (Harper: Sept. 27, 2011 release) will be of interest to science fiction as well as mystery fans. In it, McMahon, the author of the Carroll Monks and the Hugh Davoren series, combines a man’s quest for the answers behind his brother’s possible suicide attempt with a tale of mind control via nanotechnology.
Is Nick Crandall’s fall off a Malibu cliff another of the many violent acts that seem to be plaguing Los Angeles? His brother, psychologist Tom Crandall, knows that Nick’s long term drug addiction has led to a pattern of such self-destructive behavior.
Tom soon learns that Nick’s actions before his fall were even more unusual. Nick had been blackmailing both their brother Paul and their sister Rikki. Rikki tells Tom that Nick threatened to make public a sex video in which she appeared if she interfered in any of his future business deals.
To find out what threat Nick used against Paul, Nick’s primary target, Tom tracks Paul to Parallax Productions. The motion picture company has rented property from the Crandall’s for its latest film.
Gunnar Kelso runs Parallax with the assistance of CFO Cynthia Trask. The charismatic Kelso, a former physicist with an interest in nanotechnology, admits to using his films to promote his personal philosophy.
Kelso believes that a group of superior beings known as the Gatekeepers manipulate humans for the purpose of acquiring the cosmic life force, Pneuma, which only they possess. Although Tom initially doubts Kelso’s theories, his views change when he begins experiencing the same symptoms that tormented his brother Nick.
L.A. Mental is broad in its scope, blending mythology, mysticism and mystery. Unfortunately, none of these elements reach a clear resolution in the novel’s conclusion. McMahon may intend the book to be the first in a series, although no reports now indicate this to be the case. If so, one can view the ambiguity of the final chapters as a means of alerting readers to threads that will be developed later.
FTC disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided by HarperCollins.
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