British Police Procedural, Killer believes he is: (a) in contact with a MesoAmerican Deity/(b) is a MesoAmerican Deity

[Norm017]

This is something I saw in a libary in England about four years ago and would dearly love to read again.

All I can really remember of the plot is that the killer is created when someone at an office party decides to make the 'office jerk' look stupid by spiking his drink with a hallucinogenic drug.

Instead the experience induced by the drug causes the victim to believe that he is either a MesoAmerican deity come-to-Earth or in contact with one via the agency of the drug.

Mayhem ensues and one of the early victims clearly has a supply of the drug because when the police do catch him they find they cannot charge him because the constant use of the drug has turned the killers brain into cottage cheese...

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Do you know if it's a standalone or part of a series?

[Norm017]

I have no idea.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

I skimmed the title, and totally missed the part about "British Police Procedural" the first time. I had thought that it was Burning Water by Mercedes Lackey. Unfortunately, that is NOT the book (good story though) since it is set in the U.S. and actually features serial killers who really are MesoAmerican dieties.

[Norm017]

Ann aka Iftcan wrote: "I skimmed the title, and totally missed the part about "British Police Procedural" the first time. I had thought that it was Burning Water by Mercedes Lackey. Unfortun..."

I've read that book before. Quite enjoyed it.

[Kris]

Just checking, is it definitely set in Britain (London perhaps?) or could it be elsewhere such as the U.S.?

Any chance of narrowing down "MesoAmerican" - for example, it definitely was or wasn't Aztec, Mayan, etc.?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category...

[Norm017]

As far as I can remember it was set in the UK.

[Norm017]

Bump

[Feliks]

I checked the writing credits for the Michael Moriarty/David Carradine film, 'Q' (which is exactly this storyline), but the movie doesn't appear to stem from any novel. Writer-director Larry Cohen conceived the idea in this case.

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Could it possibly be a novelization of the movie? More and more movies are releasing those, if there isn't a novel that they are based on.

[Norm017]

I have a copy of 'Q' and the novel which is set (as far as I can remember) in the UK bore (from what I can remember) no relation to it.

[Norm017]

Bump

[Norm017]

Second bump

[Justanotherbiblophile]

Yeah, usually we bump about every 30 days.

But let's just call this May's bump :)

[Norm017]

August's Bump

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Stab in the dark - something by Val McDermid?

[Norm017]

Sorry for the late reply, thanks for the suggestion. No it was not.

[Kris]

Was there a main British investigator featured in the story? Did s/he specialize in the occult (as a general example: www.goodreads.com/series/59393-jack-n...)?

Set in a big city or small town?

Remember anything about the cover image?

[Norm017]

Sorry to say, all I can really remember is the plot and that the cover was fairly nondescript.

[Norm017]

Bump

[Norm017]

Bump

[Ingo]

Demiurge ? Must admit, I am still trying to finish it, received an ARC ebook for a review, my bad.
Demiurge: Blood of the Innocent
No mention of MesoAmerican, Deity pops up in a search through the ebook.
Pro:
main setting is in the UK
Police procedural
Con:
2013 published as per copyright info
and the above mentioned.
Given that sometimes memory is not very exact, I just thought to mention it, even if it is very probably not the book. Rather well written, but complicated, and not my kind of book - anymore, it changes through the years and my list of read and even 5/4star rated books might be different today, than 20 or 30 years ago.

Complicated Fantasy/Horror, some reviews I just skimmed say it gripped them and place it on par with Dan Brown (if that is good) or James Rollins and the like, which may be ok, even in my opinion.
Might for some, even the OP, be one more book to be read.
Will follow this thread, as the searched for book might be for me.

[Norm017]

No, that's not it. I read it around 2010.

[Spottyblanket]

Any character names?

[Norm017]

I cannot remember the names of the characters.

[Norm017]

Bump

[Scott]

Could it be something by Graham Masterton? He's written a number of mysteries and thrillers involving various mythologies.

[Norm017]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I had a quick look and nothing seems to fit what I remembered.

[Ingo]

With the comment I saw this thread again, just a reminder:
to bring threads up, so different people see them, they should be bumped, meaning, write a short "bump" (or anything you like) as a comment every 30 days (not more often) or any other period you like.
This thread lay dormant for 9 months between message #25 and #26. Only people who actively searched for it would have seen it.

[Ayshe]

Acid Lullaby by Ed O'Connor?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Ayshe wrote: "Acid Lullaby by Ed O'Connor?"

The genre on that one is "unfinished."

::snort::

(That's a snort at the GR genre-assignment system, not at the book.)

[Ayshe]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Ayshe wrote: "Acid Lullaby by Ed O'Connor?"

The genre on that one is "unfinished."

::snort::

(That's a snort at the GR genre-assignment system, not at the book.)"
Not sure, but I suspect librarians helped for that one: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Could be. But "Unfinished" in any case should not be aggregated with "Did Not Finish" because it might mean something totally different. E.g. Schubert's Unfinished Symphony. Or Kafka's Castle, which was unfinished by the author.

[Norm017]

Thank you Ayshe, I think this is the one, but I'll have to read it all the way through to be sure.

[Kris]

Here is the Google Books preview of Acid Lullaby by Ed O'Connor - Ayshe's suggestion - https://books.google.com/books?id=Iw1...
There are different cover images.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Norm017, have you confirmed that "Acid Lullaby" is your book?

[Norm017]

Not yet, I still have not managed to find a copy that I can easily get my hands on.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

There's a "like new" hardcover copy with intact dust jacket on Abebooks for $5.20 and free shipping.

Or if you like paying more, the same book (from the same seller) is on Amazon for $6.27.

[Norm017]

Thanks.