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Neil McMahon, author of 'L.A. Mental'

Series: The Write Question
From: KUFM - Montana Public Radio
Length: 00:29:01

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Neil McMahon’s riveting new thriller, L.A. MENTAL is a mind-bending blend of nano-tech paranoia and classic murder mystery, set in a city on the edge. During this program McMahon reads from the book and tells what he found out when researching the nano-technology industry. Scary stuff! Read the full description.

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Psychologist Tom Crandall is thrown for a loop when his drug-addled brother, Nick, jumps from a Malibu cliff, barely surviving the fall. Things only get weirder when he discovers that Nick has been blackmailing members of their family, including their brother Paul, who is financing a movie by a scientist with some odd theories about human behavior. Heading to the set, Tom meets the charismatic—albeit enigmatic—physicist-turned-filmmaker, and not long after he begins experiencing wild mood swings between euphoria and anger. And he is not alone—all over the city people seems to be coming unhinged: a respected judge goes berserk, a wealthy celebrity widow is found floating unconscious in her pool, a brilliant astrophysicist runs onto a busy freeway and is killed. What is going on? Are Tom and the others caught in some terrifying scheme? Can he get to the bottom of things before it is too late?


Neil McMahon
was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University and is the author of six acclaimed mysteries set in San Francisco and Montana, as well as four fantasy novels written under a pseudonym. L.A. MENTAL is his first thriller. He lives in Missoula, Montana.

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Piece Description

Psychologist Tom Crandall is thrown for a loop when his drug-addled brother, Nick, jumps from a Malibu cliff, barely surviving the fall. Things only get weirder when he discovers that Nick has been blackmailing members of their family, including their brother Paul, who is financing a movie by a scientist with some odd theories about human behavior. Heading to the set, Tom meets the charismatic—albeit enigmatic—physicist-turned-filmmaker, and not long after he begins experiencing wild mood swings between euphoria and anger. And he is not alone—all over the city people seems to be coming unhinged: a respected judge goes berserk, a wealthy celebrity widow is found floating unconscious in her pool, a brilliant astrophysicist runs onto a busy freeway and is killed. What is going on? Are Tom and the others caught in some terrifying scheme? Can he get to the bottom of things before it is too late?


Neil McMahon
was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University and is the author of six acclaimed mysteries set in San Francisco and Montana, as well as four fantasy novels written under a pseudonym. L.A. MENTAL is his first thriller. He lives in Missoula, Montana.

Timing and Cues

music bed from 20:30 to 21:25

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