Combustible Punch

by Paul Michael Peters

Overview

Rick Philips isn’t a fighter – but he is a survivor

Haunted by memories of a high school shooting, not even the bottle can wash away the gnawing guilt and creeping feelings of inadequacy that batter Rick’s conscience daily.

His life has been a mess of broken marriages, writer’s block, terrible choices, and the morbid pity of others.

When he meets Harriet at a writer’s conference, the record doesn’t scratch as he falls back – only this time, he may not get up.

Harriet Bristol Wheeler is a dark temptress – and self-confessed serial killer

Harriet has no problem killing – and even fewer issues blending back into the background after the act with the cool, calculating eye of a practiced social chameleon.

Manipulative, unpredictable, and exceptionally intelligent, she’s Rick’s worst nightmare – and the ideal subject for his next book.

A book that they are both desperate to write.

Time is running out – but the sadness will last forever

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781733088312
Publisher:	Paul Peters
Publication date:	08/13/2019
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	767,112
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.68(d)

About the Author

Top-selling author Paul Michael Peters is an American writer best known for his take on the quirky tangents and morals of contemporary life and his recent novels, Insensible Loss and The Symmetry of Snowflakes.

His upcoming novel, Combustible Punch, is a thriller scheduled for release in 2019 that explores the psychological dance between that most unlikely of odd couples: a serial killer and a high school shooting survivor.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

1. Sunday Morning

2. Gnawing

3. Flight

4. Monday

5. Appeal

6. Shots

7. Scars

8. Tuesday

9. Intermezzo

10. Gloam

11. Umbra

12. Term

13. Fermentation

14. Auvers-sur-Oise

15.Wednesday

16. Amuse-bouche

17. Thursday

18. Saturday

19. Punch Romaine

20. Physostigmine

21. Sunday

22. Monday

23. Syncope

24. Iodopovidone

25. Manganese

26. Epistaxis

27. Tuesday

28. Tremolo

29. Rum 151

30.Wednesday

31. Flavor

32. Presentation

33. Everclear

34. Sambuca

35. Cordials

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

2019-08-14
In this thriller, a desperate author agrees to write the story of an enigmatic, self-professed serial killer.

Rick Philips' days of being a famous author may be behind him. It's been more than a decade since he released the bestselling Shelter in Place, in which he recounts his experience as the sole survivor of a high school shooting. He now teaches writing at Dupont University. But the college's dean implies that if Rick doesn't soon produce something substantial, he'll lose his job. As it happens, Rick has already found a topic for his next book: a female serial killer. Or rather, she found him. He and Harriet Bristol Wheeler met recently at a writers' conference, where she admitted she is a serial murderer and told him she wants him to tell her story. He complies and begins regularly interviewing Harriet. She says she's killed 12 individuals but insists they aren't victims, as they were all "bad people." To allay any doubts Rick may have, Harriet takes him to a dumped body that she later IDs. Beyond that, she's predominantly evasive: She reveals her history but only gradually names the others she's murdered. Rick doesn't immediately see the danger in his frequent proximity to a serial killer, but his life has been in turmoil for years, as he drinks excessively and has nightmares of Ian Maynard Abbot, the school shooter who nearly killed him. It may not be long before Harriet, who's both clever and unpredictable, becomes the "monster" Rick fears the most.

Peters' (The Complete Collection of Short Stories, 2019, etc.) evenly paced novel is a riveting look at a serial killer, even if only in glimpses. Despite Harriet's openness in detailing certain murders, she's shrouded in mystery. Harriet isn't her real name, and she cryptically tells Rick that, while she's killed some, others have "just happened to die around" her. Rick also has a somewhat murky background. But this slowly comes to light through interactions with two strong female characters: Paige Turner, his first ex-wife, with whom he's still on good terms; and Samantha Taylor, a neighbor, Dupont graduate student, and potential love interest. Though Rick and Harriet often assert that she's a cunning murderer who doesn't fit serial killer profiles, it's not clear how she's eluded detection for so long. For example, most scenes show Harriet killing someone with little to no planning and no indication she took precautions to avoid leaving evidence behind. Still, Harriet is an endlessly intriguing character. Rick sometimes sees "coldness" in her eyes or lack of emotion, but she easily charms people. What she's thinking or feeling is nearly impossible to determine, and readers may wonder how much of what she's relaying to Rick is true. The author generates a modicum of sympathy for Harriet, who supposedly has an inoperable brain lesion and a daughter whom someone took from her. Rick, meanwhile, makes a disturbing request of Harriet, which plays out in a twisty final act and open ending.

An enthralling and unnerving probe into the complex mind of a murderer.

Kirkus Reviews