Paroxysm

Mad as Hell - and Loving It! Ruthless mercenaries, hired by an ex-Pentagon chemical-weapons designer turned rogue, take over a small town in Oregon. The plan: use the citizenry as guinea pigs in a test-run of a bootlegged bio-agent for an Islamist terror organization. But something goes wrong and the mercs and their clients find themselves surrounded by townsfolk who have turned into hyper-coordinated killing machines. PAROXYSM is an action-packed tale about the seductive power of righteous violence, about how ordinary people can explode when fate gives them the power to hit back. Praise for Matthew Hughes: " Matthew Hughes does Jack Vance better than anyone except Jack himself" - George R. R. Martin " Heir apparent to Jack Vance" - Booklist " Hughes's boldness is admirable"- New York Review of Science Fiction " Hughes effortlessly renders fantastic worlds and beings believable"- Publishers Weekly " A towering talent"- Robert J. Sawyer " A treasure" - David Gerrold