Frankenstorm: Chaos Theory

Book 5: Frankenstorm

by Ray Garton

Genres: Thrillers

Synopsis

Breaking The Laws Of Nature In the fifth explosive installment of Ray Garton's six-part Frankenstorm, an insidious man-made enemy wages war on our biology, humanity, and last shred of sanity. . . Frankenstorm If anyone knows where the bodies are buried in Humboldt County, it's Sheriff Mitch Kaufman, who's seen it all: The meth lab operated by the Traylor family; the arsenal of weapons stockpiled by survivalist nutcase Ollie Monk; even the suspicious activity inside the old mental hospital. But it's not until Hurricane Quentin hits the coast—and all hell breaks loose—that Sheriff Kaufman is able to piece together the puzzle that's plagued his community. Homeless people have been infected with a biological weapon for the government. Rabid subjects have escaped into the storm, spreading violence, madness, and contagion throughout the county. And the only thing that can stop this large-scale disaster is a small-town cop who's just crazy enough to try. . . When everything goes to hell, there's only one place to find peace: In the eye of the storm. Praise For Ray Garton "Scary. . .involving. . .mature and thoughtful." —Stephen King on Dark Channel "Gripping, original, and sly." —Dean Koontz on Live Girls "Ray Garton is, and always has been, one of horror fiction's great innovators."—F. Paul Wilson "Garton never fails to go for the throat!" —Richard Laymon "Garton has a flair for taking veteran horror themes and twisting them to evocative or entertaining effect." — Publishers Weekly "Razor-sharp and gut-punch brutal, Garton will scare you." —Mark Kidwell, Fangoria magazine "Garton does not even know that there is top to go over." —Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column "Ray Garton has consistently created some of the best horror ever set to print." — Cemetery Dance magazine 15,500 Words

Release date: February 11, 2014

Publisher: Pinnacle Books

Print pages: 45

Sample

“I’m alone now, so I can speak freely,” Corcoran said as he leaned back in the chair again and put his feet back up on the desk. “Things have gone straight to hell. A disaster, top to bottom.”

“What kind of disaster?”

“Well, I told Sylvia about some of it, and—”

“You haven’t told me. What kind of disaster?”

“The worst. These, these, I don’t know what to call them, these lunatics, these vigilante militia lunatics come bursting in here and hold everyone at fucking gunpoint while they release the test subjects.”

“The monkeys?”

“No. The, uh . . . the off-the-books test subjects.”

There was a long silence on the line, then: “I see. And how did they know about them?”

“I have no clue! None!”

“None at all? You have no idea whatsoever how this could have happened?”

“Look, there are a couple of guys who do nothing but make trouble for us. Or try to make trouble for us. One is that Internet radio host I told you about. He does a show about conspiracies and, I don’t know, the Illuminati’s plan to enslave us all, or whatever, and he got it into his head that something suspicious was going on here at Springmeier because Vendon Labs and DeCamp Pharmaceuticals were involved with and have a long and fruitful relationship with the government, and—”

“Breathe, Jeremy. Are you high?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I haven’t been doing anything.”

“I know you too well. That you haven’t been doing any drugs would be ridiculous. Go on with your story.”

“Well, the show is on the Internet, so it’s heard everywhere, but it stirred up all the paranoid nutballs here, and apparently this militia, this armed, paramilitary group of gun-loving thugs just broke in. As far as I know, they’ve killed our entire security team! Just killed them!”

“You’re sure about that? The entire team?”

“According to the leader of that mob. His name is Ollie. One of our janitors seems to know him.”

“Is that so? One of your janitors?”

“Yes. That’s not important, though.”

“You don’t think so? You’ve had a catastrophic security breach and your janitor is friends with the man who leads the team that pulled it off and . . . you don’t think that’s important?”

“Well, I certainly didn’t think—”

“That’s becoming a problem, Jeremy, the fact that you don’t think. The fact that you do drugs and throw sex parties and you’re becoming more and more careless all the time. I’m afraid we’re going to have to reevaluate your relationship with Vendon Labs, Jeremy.”

Corcoran laughed. “Be serious. Where are you going to find anyone who can do what I can do for you? Nobody else could have done for you all the things I’ve done over the years. That includes this. Yes, this project may be fucked, but I’ve been doing what you were paying me to do, and with more time, I would have finished. What do you care if I do drugs or have a party now and then as long as I get the job done?”

“Getting the job done includes maintaining the security and safety of your facility, you know that. I strongly suggested that you let me send someone in to manage things, but you wouldn’t—”

Corcoran lowered his feet to the floor and sat up straight in the squeaky chair. “I don’t work under anyone. After all the years I’ve—with the career I’ve had, you want me to—I shouldn’t have to work under anyone.”

“Are you done sputtering?”

“Well, I don’t think I’m being unreasonable to think that someone of my status—”

“Your status, Jeremy, is as follows: You are a sixty-eight-year-old man who still tries to pass for sixty-five, who’s rapidly falling apart, but who insists on living like a twenty-year-old and who takes drugs like a rock star. All of those things have begun to outweigh any talents you have. Talents that are slipping, I might add, because the drugs are destroying your brain. And your mind. You used to have a few leadership qualities in addition to your talents as a scientist, but not anymore. You’ve made that clear with this disaster.”

“You are not going to lay this at my feet! The biggest problem here from the beginning has been Fara. And now she’s talking about going public with her story. She claims she’s sent some recording to that radio host I told you about. If you want to blast somebody on t. . .