Luke Dumas follows up his exceptional novels A HISTORY OF FEAR and THE PALEONTOLOGIST with a modern horror story that speaks directly to the current prescription weight loss craze in America.

In a recent interview, Dumas called NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD his most autobiographical book to date as he was overweight for much of his life. He also was inspired by the classic 1984 novel, THINNER, which Stephen King wrote as Richard Bachman and dealt with a man cursed with extreme and uncontrollable weight loss.

"I truly admire what Luke Dumas has accomplished with NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD. This is utilization of horror in the way it was intended --- a mirror that reflects the fears of individuals and societies through nightmare-inducing prose."

The prologue describes an unnamed person who is ravenously hungry and goes to extremes to satisfy his appetite. It is the perfect precursor for what is about to transpire. Emmett Truesdale has always battled weight issues. Now in his late 20s, he weighs in at over 330 pounds and must endure an intolerable retail job after failing as a teacher, which was his dream profession. He shares an apartment with his best friend, Lisette. Obese and proud of it, she runs a clothing line for larger individuals.

Emmett is willing to try anything, so Lisette accompanies him to a research study sponsored by a pharmaceutical company that is seeking subjects to test out their latest weight loss medication, Obexity. He goes through some rigorous physical exams and is eventually contacted by a doctor who welcomes him to the program. Emmett is given the medication and instructed how to apply the daily, highly painful injections. Obexity is proposed to rework the body’s signals and directly attack the endocrine relationship to how the body processes and releases the food it ingests.

Throughout the novel are transcripts from official interviews that take place in the future following some horrific events that have occurred in relation to Emmett’s use of Obexity. We also get to see his own blog, which has gained quite a number of followers who witness his weight loss journey as he gets all the way down to 170 pounds. He is a new man, and his love life and career take turns for the better.

In addition, there are some flashback sequences that are extremely cringey about how a young Emmett was cruelly tortured and body-shamed by his ex-stepfather. All of this plays with his current psyche and why he is willing to become the person he always dreamed he could be. Of course, nothing comes without a price, and in this case it’s an extreme hunger that nothing can sate. When bodies turn up in his neighborhood, obviously having been partially consumed by what authorities initially claim to be an animal, we realize that Emmett has been turned into a monster he cannot control.

I will not go into any detail about the murder spree for which Emmett is responsible. Believe me when I say that it is graphic and mind-blowing at the same time. The finale is just as brutal as what has come before and will leave readers gasping. I truly admire what Luke Dumas has accomplished with NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD. This is utilization of horror in the way it was intended --- a mirror that reflects the fears of individuals and societies through nightmare-inducing prose.