That Chemical Reflex

"It's that God shudder, that Richter scale twitch, that chemical reflex that makes those things happen. It's that single skipped heartbeat when Sydney jumps in your head and wrestles you out of the captains chair." - Annie Logue

In Jim Disney's world, deviance is chic and the majority are immoral. Yet, everyone has their limits, even the pierced youth of this drug-entranced counter-culture. There are always limits one shouldn't cross, and Jim's lie about 50 feet behind him, hidden beneath the hollow corpse of a shadowy snuff-film maker. And now, he realizes why these lines are there. Everything changes when you kill your first person. Right or wrong, justified or not, it always catches up with you and it almost always turns sour. All he wants is to move on, hit the reset button, pass go, screw the $200. He just doesn't want to kill anybody else, so long as he can help it.

THAT CHEMICAL REFLEX is a novel in several parts, written by Mike Kennedy and illustrated by Dan Brereton, Ken Meyer Jr., and Brad deCaussin.

`Contents:.`

Brief Synopsis
Notes from the Author
Chapter One: "The Shadow-maker"
Ordering Information

Summary

That Chemical Reflex accounts Jim's realization that his girlfriend's recent disappearance may not have been such a spontaneous act. As he begins to identify certain feelings towards Annie, his fear and guilt drive him into actions he never thought he'd have to take.

Of course, being pursued by pissed off snuff-film makers may also have something to do with those actions.

Jim spends his days in the Haight Street squat shared by several of Annies friends, trying to figure out where his life is heading and how to get there in one piece. But it doesn't take any time for the killers to find him, and when they do, no one is safe.

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Notes from the Author

"I began writing That Chemical Reflex in 1992, as a short story to be illustrated by Dan Brereton. After some consideration, he suggested I expand on the characters and storyline, and over the next few years the novel grew to completion in 21 chapters.
"CFD was kind enough to publish the first three installments, covering the first 8 chapters, but a lack of marketing kept it from getting noticed. Acclaims came in from those who read it, but unfortunately, that wasn't many people.
"At the time, I wanted to write a story about flawed characters in unpleasant situations, but as elements of my own life started to parallel Jim's, I found a new appreciation for what he was going through. Not that I've ever killed anyone, though. Really.
"I can recognize, through the glut of Tarrantino-style, white-trash story telling, that this may sound like a bandwagon crime story by some wannabe film director. But I assure you, that's not the case. This story spends a lot of time inside Jim's head, replaying thoughts and feelings I'm sure are more common than one would like to think. It really is a love-and-loss story. Sorta. The crime elements just keep it fun.
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