The Bottom Line: A high-octane thriller that seems destined for a major streaming platform. Fans of The X-Files and Stranger Things will fall hard for The Master Mind.
Author Mark Schorr has created a compelling heroine in fitness and mixed martial arts expert Diana Wynne, who has no problem deploying her formidable strength both at the gym and on the streets. But the muscles she needs to conquer her personal life have atrophied after losing her husband in a motorcycle accident just one month after they married. Since then, Diana has only been taking odd jobs and putting dating on the backburner.
But an opportunity for transformation is sparked when some drunk guys attempt to assault her sister. Diana comes to her rescue and is aided by a stranger, Tom Lord, who turns out to be a formidable fighter himself. The result is mutual admiration, as well as undeniable attraction. Diana is smitten. Tom is a scrapper, but he’s also delightfully nerdy and obsessed with magic.
However, Tom’s past is murky. Every question seems to lead to smoke and mirrors. Much to her friend Lisa’s dismay, Diana doesn’t seem too worried about it — until she and Tom have to fight off would-be kidnappers. Now that Tom is forced to reveal his past, she gets more than she bargained for. He tells her that he has ESP and has been pursued for years by a maniacal researcher bent on exploiting his abilities.
With that shocking reveal, the two are forced to make a run for it. Soon they are catapulted into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with major geopolitical ramifications hanging in the balance. Tom’s background as a government research subject in an off-the-grid unit – run by a ruthless villain readers will love to hate – adds a world of depth to this unlikely crime fighting duo.
Aided by Schorr’s fast-paced narrative and cinematic writing style, The Master Mind seems destined for a major streaming platform. Fans of The X-files and Stranger Things will connect with the story’s combination of fringe science and corrupt, off-the-radar government operatives. To say too much about the group of misfit characters who come together to help Diana and Tom would be heading into spoiler territory, but readers are in for an enthralling romp.
Schorr juggles a large cast, and readers need to pay close attention in the first several chapters as several critical characters and their backgrounds are introduced in rapid-fire succession. Once Diana and Tom are on the run, get ready for a high-octane adventure you won’t be able to put down.
