The Cadaver's Ball

by Charles Atkins

There are times when a trusted “friend” is so filled with hatred that he will do anything possible to ruin the other. Ed, Peter, and Beth had been friends through medical school. At the Cadaver’s Ball, the somewhat ghoulish-named celebration that is the closest thing to a senior prom the hardworking medical students have, Ed confidently presents Beth with an engagement ring. She reluctantly has to tell him that she has already agreed to marry Peter---and Ed’s life explodes.

From then on, Ed’s main goal is to make Beth realize she made the wrong choice---but fate intervenes. A car crash takes her life and that of the baby she and Peter had been expecting. Peter was the one driving, and the accident comes close to wrecking his own life irretrievably.

Beth’s death torches Ed’s blazing hatred of Peter and he builds a complex and terrible program to destroy Peter. Peter doesn’t suspect the cause of his growing difficulties until he becomes a suspect in the death of a patient. He must find a way to reclaim his life---if it is not already too late.

In this riveting psychological thriller, Charles Atkins demonstrates his rare skill for creating passionate characters with a range of motivations, from obsession and vengeance to self-preservation.

Genres: Thriller

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Charles Atkins
Welcome to my author page. I'm a board-certified psychiatrist, author, and professional speaker.

I write both fiction and nonfiction, including the Barrett Conyors forensic thriller series, the Lil and Ada cozies and urban fantasy with LGBTQ+ protagonists under the pen name, Caleb James. I've written plain-speak books on Alzheimer's and Bipolar Disorder, and textbooks on co-occurring mental health and substance use problems, and opioid use disorders.

In addition to books I've written hundreds of articles, columns, and shorts stories for professional and popular magazines, newspapers, and journals. I've been a regular contributor to the American Medical Association's American Medical News, a consultant to the Reader's Digest Medical Breakthrough series, and my work has appeared in publications ranging from The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) to Writer's Digest Magazine. I've been twice featured in the New York Times, as well as many other publications. In 2019 I wrote a special edition for PARADE on the science of sleep.

I live in Connecticut where I split my time between clinical work, writing and family.

Reviews

[Victoria Grusing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jealousy strikes again.

[Laura Mientus]

It was good. Had not read this author before.

[Ruthanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best, edge of your seat thrillers i have ever read, loved it!!!!

[Mikehamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creates a tense atmosphere. The sympathetic character being framed by his scheming friend. This is a hard plot line to enjoy. Once past that initial reluctance to witness the good guy being manipulated for vengeance, the story was well paced and easy to stick with. It wasn't apparent from the story that the author had any particularly expert insights into the characters' motivations, actions or responses. Perhaps that is an unreasonable expectation created by jacket notes touting his professional background in psychiatry. Not bad but not outstanding.

[Debbie Landry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book grabbed me in with the characters and their woven dependency on each other. It was certainly a psychological thriller done well. I liked the nuisances of Ed Tyson and Peter Grainger's pasts and presents and how they grappled with their successes and failures. Ed Tyson has a character was cunning. I recommend this one and will look to add more books by author Charles Atkins.

[krin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very intense thriller which kept my interest throughout. I liked how Peter knew something was wrong and that Ed was somehow involved even if he didn't know exactly what was going on. I also liked the way the point of view switched from third person (Ed) to first person (Peter).

[Shannon 3k · Rating 1 out of 5]

Starts well, but gets bogged down by too many characters and too many points of view. The protagonist is a dolt, and the villain, for all his alleged genius, is singularly inefficient. Additionally, the plot is quite absurd.

[Joleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Billed as a "psychological thriller," yeah, not so much. It was actually rather predictable, however, despite it's predictability, it did keep my attention (which, these days, is not easy).

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun thriller for a week at the beach.