The Morpheus Conspiracy is a thriller novel that builds with nonstop suspense. The book begins with a vivid description of soldiers trudging through the mud and monsoon rains of Vietnam. When the soldiers come to a hut where a grandmother sells marijuana laced with opium, shadows flicker and enemies with masks of innocence appear, creating a terrible and unexpected event that changes lives forever. One of the soldiers returns with a curse from that fateful day, and a parade of horrors continues along the East coast of the United States.
The author successfully introduces characters and tensions in layered sub-plots of erotic romance, betrayals, psychological ruination, and acts of terror. These characters weave throughout the cursed solder's life, as each chapter is fraught with mystery and tension. At the end of the book the characters come together to reveal who they really are . . . a surprising, twisted ending!
Douglas Volk's book is impossible to put down. The writing is superb, never boring, always titillating, but never overly-sentimental or blatantly predictable. The beauty of this book is in the hidden messages and meanings, the underlying questions and riddles that move between the words, allowing readers to go on adventurous quests for answers that thrill with psychological suspense!
Note: I received a free copy of this book without the promise of a positive review.