Matter of Fear

With A Matter of Fear, Seymour Shubin has produced one of his finest and most compelling novels. To say that he has outdone himself would be to imply he has gone beyond some of his other fine works, but of course that's impossible. However, A Matter of Fear will certainly rank high on anyone's list of Shubin's best, along with his Edgar-nominated The Captain. Let's say that he at least equals his other literate and compelling crime novels here. In a 1970s era setting, Tom Loberg, age 28, lands a job with a vanity arm of a medical publishing house. The imprint issues books the editors don't think will sell particularly well, but that doctor authors will pay to have in print. Tom, though he doesn't like the job or respect his supervisor Sam Glennie, is glad to get a position that will possibly lead to better editorial jobs elsewhere. In the meantime, he meets a girl and falls in love--and acquires a manuscript through her connections. All is day-to-day routine at work until Tom's boss Glennie turns up drowned in the river--a suicide. But maybe not. Maybe Glennie had every reason to live. When Tom begins to think the death was murder, he tries to work out who and why against a peculiar background filled with odd, yet thoroughly believable characters. Shubin's greatest gift to his readers with this book is his authenticity. The realness of his people and their environment set fire to the suspense, and we, along with Tom, feel for Glennie and the bereaved wife and want to find out how such a thing could have happened. We're carried along right with our protagonist in no uncertain terms. Tom is purely sympathetic, from his reactions to his job, to his growing relationship with Tina, to his identification with Glennie whose life was sucked dry by this terrible workplace.Tom is a wonderful character, a young man who is wise to the world and growing weary, but who can be caught by the genuineness of a new love and who has a wonderful sense of humor he isn't afraid to exercise. Shubin, who has had many prior successes, has triumphed with this one, the pages of which readers will scarf up like potato chips. This is a fast and riveting read, different from the numerous pre-plotted stories that have proliferated in the marketplace over the last decade or so. I would definitely suggest this one to real crime fiction fans. No, it's not a cozy, nor is it hardboiled--neither cats nor bloody corpses spoil the fun. G. Miki Hayden, author of Writing the Mystery, a Macavity winner and Agatha and Anthony nomination.

For five years Tom Loberg worked as a writer in the promotion department of pharmaceutical company Packer-Hill Laboratories until a key patent expired and nine hundred employees including Tom received a pink slip. Unemployed for three months, Tom accepts a position as an editorial writer at Mallory & Mallory medical publishing firm. Tom works for nasty Sam Glennie at the vanity-press division of the company.The insecure and offensive Sam alienates subordinates, as he fears one of them will take his job. However, he loses his position in a more dramatic style as his corpse is found floating in the Pawtoni River. The police lean towards suicide, but Tom thinks otherwise after going through his boss' files and finding implications that murder might have occurred. Unable to resist, especially when his former employer shockingly offers him work, Tom makes inquiries that lead to more people dying to keep a deadly secret silent.Though very typical of the medical conspiracy novels, A MATTER OF FEAR is an engaging amateur sleuth tale because readers will like the stubborn high morality of the hero. In spite of the plot not being any different than the usual pharmaceutical company hiding the results of the latest miracle drug that cures by killing, the story line engages the audience who root for Tom to uncover the truth. Because of Tom trying to do the right thing, conspiracy buffs will enjoy Seymour Shubin's tale of medical chicanery.Harriet Klausner