Fear Itself [Kindle Edition]

Jonathan Nasaw (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

E.L. Pender, the FBI agent introduced in Nasaw's previous mystery (The Girls He Adored, is a few days short of retirement when he gets a letter from a California woman with an unlikely premise--that the deaths of three people who, like her, attended a conference for people suffering from a variety of phobias (some very strange indeed) were not the random accidents they appeared to be, but the work of a serial killer. Once Pender meets Dorie Bell, the letter writer, he believes her, and with the help of a gutsy agent sidelined from an active career in the FBI by her recently diagnosed MS, he tracks the murderer--the man who bankrolled the conference in order to meet his victims, learn their vulnerabilities, and use their fears to kill them. The sociopathic villain of this suspenseful novel is a sort of junior-grade Hannibal Lecter who gets his bloody comeuppance in the end; having written him out of the picture, and set Pender up for retirement, one wonders who the resourceful author will turn to for his next thriller. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

Nasaw's follow-up to The Girls He Adored is a polished, tongue-in-cheek thriller in which serial killer Simon Childs preys on people with phobias and kills them by bringing their worst fears to life. The novel opens with Childs on the loose in California, stalking Dorie Bell, who has a fear of masks. Bell has written a letter to the FBI about the recent suspicious deaths of several of her phobic friends (a woman with a fear of blood slit her wrists, a man with a fear of heights jumped out of a window, etc.). Her note alerts Linda Abruzzi, an agent who has just been restricted to desk duty after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and Ed Pender, her newly retired boss, to Childs's predilections. Pender arrives on the scene just in time to keep Bell from becoming Childs's latest victim, but the murderer escapes during the melee. Once he evades his pursuers, Childs decides to track down Pender and Abruzzi and teach them a lesson. The rest of the book consists of a series of extended chase sequences as Childs makes his way across the country to FBI headquarters. Nasaw goes a bit over the top in spinning out the flaws and foibles of his serial killer, especially during the climax, when Childs sets a series of traps for the two agents. But the murder scenes are entertaining in a sly, cheeky fashion, and the crackling dialogue between Pender and Abruzzi gives extra life to the chase scenes.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 540 KB
• Publisher: Atria Books (January 1, 2003)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FC0ODG
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,196 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read!, January 26, 2003

By 

Nick G - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fear Itself : A Novel (Hardcover)

"There is nothing to fear but fear itself, I'm fear itself," whispers the killer.

Dorie Bell is afraid. A year ago she attended a phobia disorders convention in Las Vegas, and since then three other attendees have died...all by ways they feared the most.

FBI agent E.L. Pender has decided to hang up his holster, until he receives the letter from Dorie explaining her fear of what has happened, and that she fears she will be the next victim. Pender begins looking into the deaths of the three victims and questions everything surrounding them, such as...How can a man with a fear of heights jump 19 floors? How does a woman with a fear of blood cut her own wrists in her bathtub? Why would a woman with a fear of suffocation drown herself, and why would no water be found in her lungs?
Pender knows someone, somewhere with a connection to the victims is out there, seeking them out, and preying on their worst fears. Can Pender stop the madman, or will Dorie be the next victim?

`Fear Itself' is a fast-paced, shock packed, jolts at every turn of the page thriller that will grab hold and not let go. The creepy plot unfolds on page one, and only gets creepier and more suspenseful with every turn of the page. The killer is twisted and clever, and one of the more original villans in recent novels. The only problem is that the killer's identity is known early on, and while it doesn't ruin the rest of the novel, it would have made a nice additional shock if revealed at the explosive climax.

Jonathan Nasaw is making a name for himself in the thriller genre writing scary, twisted, fast-paced thrillers, and with this follow-up to his best-selling novel `The Girls He Adored' he proves he is going to be around a long time.

A great read for thriller fans!

Nick Gonnella

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Visual Tale of Fear and Torture, March 4, 2005

By 

C. Middleton (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fear Itself: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

This novel is another spin on the popular genre of serial killer tales.

Simon is a particularly malicious individual, in search of the ultimate adrenalin high. He discovers early in his sadistic career, that by inducing fear in his victims, the rush is the best he can attain. Mixing drugs and torture, he has found the perfect combination. Simon is a smart killer, sophisticated, and plans his fear games to the last detail. He is also rich and can spend full time exploring this deadly activity.

Enter Special Agent Pender, a large, witty and terribly dressed veteran of the FBI on the verge of his retirement. Pender is a likable fellow - he drinks too much, a live-alone divorcee, at the end of a long career. But appearances can be deceiving because this roly-poly officer of the law has been chasing serial killers for twenty years and knows how they think.

Dorie Bell is a middle-aged artist with an unusual phobia - prosoponophobia, fear of masks. Simon has her in his reptilian sights and when she least expects it, he strikes and his malevolent activities begin.

Nasaw writes his descriptions realistically and effortlessly. He's a visual writer, placing the reader directly into his scenes. As you turn the pages of this novel, the images of Simon's sadistic games appear before your eyes - Nasaw is a fly-on-the-wall- writer, which makes this kind of story that much more enjoyable.

As a fan of this genre, I'm intrigued how so many good writers out there can continue to come up with new spins on the ways and methods of the serial killer; Nasaw certainly ranks with the best of them. He seems confident with this genre and writes it superbly well.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific thriller and one of the nastiest villains ever., March 26, 2003

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fear Itself : A Novel (Hardcover)

"Fear Itself," by Jonathan Nasaw, stands out from other serial killer novels. Nasaw combines whimsical humor and terror expertly, without either element throwing the novel out of balance. His villain is an incredibly cold and malicious individual; yet, Nasaw fleshes out the murderer's personality so that we understand how he became so monstrous. All of this is packaged in a fast-moving, incredibly exciting and suspenseful story.

An unknown assailant is targeting a group of people who suffer from specific phobia disorders (fear of heights, snakes, drowning and masks are some examples). The killer makes the murders appear to be suicides, but one individual, a phobic herself named Dorrie Bell, suspects that these were no suicides. For example, an acrophobic (a person who fears high places) apparently jumped out of a twelfth-story window. Dorrie doesn't buy it.

Two unlikely candidates decide to help Dorrie find the out the truth. One is E. L. Pender, an overweight, fifty-six year old Special Agent of the FBI. Although Pender is on the brink of retirement, he cannot resist getting involved in one more case. The other is Linda Abruzzi, a thirty-five year old woman with a disability. Abruzzi stubbornly refuses to leave the FBI, even though her superiors have made it clear that they no longer value her services.

Abruzzi and Pender use their considerable skills to track their adversary, who is clever, ruthless and very dangerous. Nasaw ratchets up the tension almost unbearably as the book progresses. The scenes in which the killer confronts the phobics with what they fear most are not for the faint-hearted.

The dialogue and plotting in "Fear Itself" is terrific and the novel is perfectly paced. Nasaw depicts all of the characters, both major and minor, with care and they all contribute to the complex story. The author provides fascinating background information on phobia disorders, which helps the reader to understand and empathize with the plight of the victims. If you have a strong stomach, if you like nasty villains, and if enjoy a dose of both humor and horror with your suspense, pick up "Fear Itself." Just be sure to leave the light on.