Deficiency

Niederman (The Baby Squad, etc.) unleashes a remorseless monster who looks human but is far more deadly in this fast-paced medical murder mystery. In a small town in upstate New York, a young woman is rushed to the emergency room, where she soon dies. Dr. Terri Barnard determines the cause of death to be extreme vitamin C deficiency, which sounds preposterous given the woman's general good health. But when another young woman dies of a sudden loss of vitamin B, Terri and the local authorities begin to suspect that a very unusual serial killer may be on the prowl. In a parallel narrative, a nameless drifter seduces women young and old. A medical enigma, he seems to draw strength from the women, draining them of the nutrients his body lacks. He is confused not only by his body's abnormal physical needs, but by memories, or rather, their conspicuous absence: he cannot remember his family, or anything about his life prior to a few years ago. The story cuts back and forth between the two perspectives, and accelerates as Terri and her colleagues come closer to finding the predator. Despite a strong setup and an intriguing villain, the finale feels rushed, and the explanation for the killer's biology is disappointingly derivative. FLAWED PERFECTION In the rugged mountains of upstate New York, a predator unlike any other is stalking and seducing his prey. Endowed with abilities and instincts far more advanced than any man, he is guided only by the desire to survive, and to feed. Dr. Terri Barnard knows something is wrong. Young women are being found abandoned, barely alive -- only to then die from diseases so rare that they should be an impossibility. In each case, the victims are completely devoid of a single vital nutrient, as if they were literally stolen from their bodies. For while the killer appears as a model of physical perfection, his mind and body are tortured by the truth. With no identity and no past, all he knows is that he needs. He is a monstrous miracle of modern science set loose upon the world, and with him comes a hunger that will never be sated.... THE LESS YOU HAVE, THE MORE YOU WANT. Trendy dance club The Underground is the hottest place in town. It's where, one night, uptight Paige Thorndyke meets a handsome stranger - and allows herself to be seduced. Twelve hours later she's dead - rushed to hospital displaying the classic symptoms of advanced scurvy. But why? The dead woman enjoyed a healthy lifestyle and diet, rich in vitamin C. When another young woman shows up dead, appearing to be suffering from an extreme case of beriberi, a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin B, physician Terri Barnard determines to find out what's going on. As she's about to discover, the truth about the women's deaths is more bizarre, more shocking, more terrifying than she could ever have imagined ...