Roulette — Thomas Locke

Don't trip. It could cost your life... They call it Roulette because there's no way of knowing what kind of ecstasy awaits. A rollercoaster ride through any one of seven heavens-or straight to hell. A new and dangerous substance has suddenly appeared at the rave scene of Gainesville, Florida. When former special agent Eric Bannon comes to investigate, the local sheriff doesn't know whether to be relieved someone is finally taking the rave issue seriously, or disturbed about who has answered the call. The inquiry must be kept quiet. But why are senior government officials turning a blind eye to such a dangerous drug? As the county hospital's senior ER nurse, Carol Steen has seen her share of small-town trouble. Her greatest concern is the snobbish new doctor. Stacie Swann is everything Carol detests: fresh out of med school, too many years her junior, drop-dead gorgeous-and with a bad attitude. Why did Stacie, an upcoming surgical star, leave her prestigious residency at the University of Florida medical center and take up station in their remote clinic? To Stacie, the nosey nurse is only a bitter reminder of what the medical establishment took from her, landing her in Middle of Nowhere, Florida. But when the night's emergencies are rushed in, the two ladies begin to bond over a common challenge. What appears to be a simple case of overdose turns into an ER nightmare. Patients seem to be suffering symptoms from multiple drugs. None are detectable. Eric arrives at the clinic in time to witness the victims' transformation from near-coma to bestial strength and ferocity. Eric and the ladies track the drug's origin to clandestine operations based within the university student body. These young people both finance the production and facilitate the human trials of the world's most exciting new high. Roulette makes you feel like your best self, times ten. Because it's no longer the old you. Carol and Stacie's patients belong to the 1% of consumers exposed to Roulette's true purpose, a purpose so heinous it will rewrite not just history, but the human genome. As opposition mounts from within his own government, Eric must face off with experimental science and the question: In the battle to control the future of humanity, do they really want to fight fire with fire? Critical Acclaim for ROULETTE: Roulettesets a new bar for intrigue. I could not set this book down. Bottom line: Rouletteis for you if you love conspiracy thrillers moving with the speed of an air boat and a mind-blowing, animalistic bite. -TG Wolff, author and co-creator of Mysteries to Die For PodcastIn their atmospheric new mystery-thriller Roulette, Locke and Guptara grab the reader's attention instantly with an appalling scenario in bucolic north Florida. The authors place their sympathetic crime-fighters in a deceptively benign rural atmosphere where, nonetheless, time is running out and death and destruction beckon. -Patrick H. Moore, author of 27 Daysand Setting the Record Straight