‘The Buzzer’ by David Mason

Published by The Book Guild,
28 September 2017.
ISBN: 978-1-91132095-1(PB)

Set in Russia this gripping mystery thriller is based on the creepy urban legends surrounding the transmission of a buzz every other second on short wave radio.

Frustrated want-to-be journalist Natalya Kovalski forces her lecherous over-bearing boss to let her undertake a research project. But instead of the boring project he suggests Natalya stumbles upon the radio wave theory and sets about investigating it. She comes across Stepan Litvin, a short-wave radio enthusiast and computer programmer, and together they visit an abandoned military base in Povarovo, which is suspected to have once been the source of the transmissions. They discover links between the city of Luga and a Soviet Human Enhancement Project C-1 which was undertaken in World War 2. After discovering evidence suggesting that the Buzzer and the C-1 is an experiment on the population of Luga, they attempt to expose the experiment to the media in order to save the city.

David Mason has created a tense fast-paced novel, which is a real page-turner from the start. How horrific is the C1 experiment and just what danger are the two main characters (and the entire population of Russia) in as they proceed with their investigation? Unlike many books set in Russia, The Buzzer does not centre around the KGB. Instead it is the military who the protagonists are up against. Natalya and Stepan are likeable, ordinary people with flaws who sometimes make mistakes.

An excellent read that I struggled to put down.

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Reviewer: Christine Hammacott

David Mason lives in Solihull, West Midlands. In 2005 he came a qualified Optometrist BSc MCOptom and began working in the family business. A couple of years ago, David came across an article online which was about an urban legend in Russia known as the Buzzer, a mysterious and relentless radio transmission heard around the world of unknown origin and purpose. This kick-started his idea for this, his debut novel and during the first few months of opening and developing a new optician’s practice in 2014, he found himself with more free time to write, and so The Buzzer was born.

Christine Hammacott lives near Southampton and runs her own design consultancy. She started her career working in publishing as a book designer and now creates covers for indie-authors. She writes page-turning fiction that deals with the psychological effects of crime. To read a review of her debut novel The Taste of Ash click on the title.

website: www.christinehammacott.com

twitter: /ChrisHammacott

Facebook: /christinehammacott.author