Book Review: The Second Shooter, by Nick Mamatas

A weird trip through Oakland, Berkeley and American conspiracy theories.

Solaris, 2021, 400 pages

A perception-twisting scifi thriller by a critically acclaimed author.

Sometimes, the truth is weirder than the conspiracy theories.

“There was video of the second shooter. There was video.”

In the first reports of every mass shooting, there’s always mention of a second shooter—two sets of gunshots, a figure seen fleeing the scene—and they always seem to evaporate as events are pieced together.

Commissioned by a fringe publisher to investigate the phenomenon, journalist Mike Karras finds himself tailed by drones, attacked by a talk radio host, badgered by his all-knowing (and maybe all-powerful) editor, and teaming up with an immigrant family of conspiracy buffs.

Together, they uncover something larger and stranger than anyone could imagine—a technomystical plot to ‘murder America.’

Time for Karras to meet his deadline.

( Nick Mamatas unleashes literary chaos. )

Also by Nick Mamatas: My reviews of Starve Better, Move Under Ground, I Am Providence, and Wonder and Glory Forever: Awe-Inspiring Lovecraftian Fiction.

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My complete list of book reviews.