Product Description

Alex stared at the red pocketknife shown to him by his daughter. A pocketknife owned by somebody he hadn’t seen in years...

-Children-

They met first in boarding school at age twelve. AlexFletcher, shy and scared. Darren Rust, always furiously scribbling away in a private journal. It was not an immediate friendship, but then one night Darren convinced his roommate to sneak off school grounds to see something glorious. There was a sleazy strip club, you see, and every once in a while the back door opened just long enough to maybe catch a quick glimpse... Though a bond was formed from their pre-pubescent interest in naked women, Darren had another interest. A morbid curiosity about death. A curiosity that turned into something much more sinister.

-Friends-

They crossed paths again in college and became the best of friends. But Darren wasn’t just looking for a friend. He had dark, ghastly urges squirming around in his head, and he believed he saw the same things — the urge to hurt, the urge to kill — in Alex. He was looking for somebody who understood. A partner. But Alex could never become a monster. Not even when Darren tried to bring out his friend’s most deeply buried feelings of rage. Not even when Darren tried to show him the euphoria of having that much power over another human being. It just couldn’t happen...right?

-Enemies-

Now Alex has a wife and a daughter. And Darren is back. He’s hiding. He’s patient. His mind is twisted in the worst possible way.

And he’s seeking a soul mate.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #426803 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 323 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780843962536
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Murdering sociopaths make lousy friends but marvelously creepy reading, as shown in this wicked thriller from Strand (Mandibles). After stealing condoms on a dare, Alex Fletcher is shipped off to Branford Academy, a boarding school for misfits. Of his four roommates, Darren Rust seems the most peculiar, but Alex becomes uneasy buddies with the little monster-in-the-making after Darren introduces him to the joys of spying on strippers. Unfortunately, Darren also enjoys cutting up dead things, including their roommate's dog, Killer Fang. Although Alex and his friends try to get even with Darren by stringing him up for a good scare, Darren retaliates by going to the headmaster, protesting his innocence and getting two of the boys kicked out of Branford. Their lives diverge until Darren pops up at Alex's college campus. When Alex falls in love with a girl, Darren gets jealous and shows his truly insane colors-to violent effect. The horror in this tale of twisted friendship is relentless, and the choices Alex makes to rescue himself from Darren's web of depravity might be morbid, but Strand's wide-eyed narrator makes the implausible almost believable.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"PRESSURE is a masterpiece. 5 out of 5 Mugs O’ Blood." -- The Horror Channel

From the Inside Flap
"PRESSURE is an deeply unsettling psychological thriller that probes the darkest recesses of the mind — as expressed in the disturbing relationship between two childhood friends who grow up to be more than enemies.... Relentless, gripping, and frightening. An outstanding novel, impossible to put down." —Douglas Preston, New York Times bestselling co-author of RELIC and DANCE OF DEATH

"Jeff Strand's PRESSURE is an ominous, disturbing study of two lives closely interwoven from childhood onward in an elaborate tapestry of vengeance, paranoia, and death. A chilling, flesh-crawling experience. I read it in one sitting and haven't been the same since!" —Michael Prescott, New York Times bestselling author of MORTAL FAULTS

"Jeff Strand's PRESSURE is a remarkable book. As I read it, I kept thinking ... 'Oh no. You're not going there!' ... but he did — and then some! A frightening mix of TOM BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS meets LORD OF THE FLIES, this is a great story all the more remarkable because of the light it shines into the darkest corners of the human psyche and soul. I highly recommend this book." —Rick Hautala, author of OCCASIONAL DEMONS and FOUR OCTOBERS

"Brilliant, unflinching, and unforgettable. PRESSURE will blow you away." —J.A. Konrath, bestselling author of RUSTY NAIL

"This dark and mesmerizing novel left me shaking. From its amazing opening line to its nerve-wracking final chapters, PRESSURE is a raw nerve, an open-wound of a narrative wherein Strand deals with some of the bleakest and most disturbing aspects of the human psyche. One of the richest, most compelling, and memorable novels I've read in the past 5 years." —Gary A. Braunbeck, Stoker Award-winning author of PRODIGAL BLUES

"Harrowing, disturbing...Jeff Strand's PRESSURE is the closest I've come to having a nightmare with my eyes still open. If Brett Easton Ellis had written CAPE FEAR, you might approach the primal suspense of Strand's lean and mean novel. A crackling, buzzing hornet's nest of psychological terror spanning two decades in the lives of two extremely dysfunctional friends. I could not put this one down. Highly recommended." —Jay Bonansinga, bestselling author of TWISTED, FROZEN, and THE SINKING OF THE EASTLAND

"I believe Jeff Strand channeled the ghost of Richard Laymon for this one. I know for sure he would have loved it." —Jack Ketchum, author of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

Customer Reviews

Relentlessly Intense!
If you've not previously read anything by Jeff Strand there couldn't possibly be a better place for you to start than with his new release, Pressure. Though Strand is the author of over a dozen books, including the outstanding Andrew Mayhem series, with the publication of Pressure Strand has taken his already incredible talent to another level entirely.

What would you do if your best friend turned out to be a sociopathic killer? One who was obsessed with you and everything about your life? That's the situation Alex faces when his friend Darren becomes increasingly manipulative and violent over the course of their relationship. Starting when they meet at boarding school, Pressure follows the twisted relationship between Alex and Darren as it builds from kids being cruel, to young men pushing boundaries, to adults who end up in the fight of their lives, figuratively and literally, against each other.

Pressure is very aptly titled because the pressure in this book builds relentlessly... almost to the point of uncomfortableness at times it is so skillfully written. Strand pushes Alex to the brink over and over, seeing just how much he and the reader can take, before finally pushing him over the edge for a climactic showdown that will leave you both stunned and impressed at its unflinching, uncompromising resolution.

Strand's Best
Like the best of Jack Ketchum, Ed Lee, or Richard Laymon, PRESSURE has some scenes that will make you wince and squirm. But it also makes you think, makes you feel, and most of all, makes you keep reading.

Nerve-wracking, well-written, and deceptively touching, this is an exhilarating, jaw-dropping thrillride that you'll remember for a long, long time.

Yeah, I liked it a lot. Here are some other appropriate modifiers: scary, funny, creepy, and fast-paced.

What's it about? Two childhood friends, and their relationship on into adulthood. The main problem is that one of them is a stone cold psychopath, and bent on destroying the other, body and soul. Think Fatal Attraction meets Stand By Me.

Strand's earlier Andrew Mayhem novels were a clever mix of gruesome and amusing. This has its light touches, but overall it is a much darker work than Strand has ever attempted. In fact, it's darker than most books I've ever read.

Pick up a copy. You won't be disappointed.

An Intense Novel
Jeff is sort-of a cross between Jack Ketchum and Ted Dekker, yet with his own unique style - amidst the intensity of this novel, he is still able to inject just enough humor to keep your heart from bursting from the anticipation of what is going to happen next. This book was outstanding!

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