This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
One month after The Beatles arrived, with much fanfare, in America, Brian Lebeau was born, unceremoniously, in Fall River, Massachusetts, home of the infamous Lizzie Borden. After being awarded an “A” in high school English once and denied a career in music for “lack of talent” repeatedly, he taught economics at several colleges and universities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island before moving to Fauquier County, Virginia, to work as a defense contractor for two decades. In the psychological thriller “A Disturbing Nature,” Mr. Lebeau merges three key interests: a keen fascination with everything World War II, a morbid curiosity surrounding the motivations and mayhem of notorious serial killers, and a lifelong obsession with the Red Sox. “A Disturbing Nature” is Mr. Lebeau’s first book.
Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite
A Disturbing Nature by Brian Lebeau is the first novel in The Echo of Whispers Series. Set in 1975, the story follows Maurice Lumen, a.k.a. Mo, who was thrown out of his home in Virginia, the only home he ever knew. Arriving in Rhode Island, Mo wished for a better life, but those wishes were never meant to be fulfilled. A serial killer titled the Pastoral Predator was out and about, picking his victims without a care in the world. FBI Chief Investigator Francis Palmer was leading the search, and somehow Mo became a suspect in the case. While the Pastoral Predator killed women left and right, Mo wasn’t sure if he was as innocent as he believed. Palmer, on the other hand, was desperate for a win. However, neither Palmer nor Mo was honest. Both had secrets, and all of them will be revealed when the Pastoral Predator is caught.
A Disturbing Nature is one of the best psychological thrillers I have read this year. Author Brian Lebeau is a maestro with words and storytelling. Mo’s story was heartbreaking, to say the least. An accident rendered his mind immature and inconsistent with his age, which made him a suspect in the story. Palmer, on the other hand, was a very sharp and calculating character. His addiction to Valium made him unreliable at times because he wasn’t as “attentive” as he should have been. His intensity and insistence on finding the killer and delivering justice almost blinded him. There are many post-World War II novels, but none of them delves into the cultural impact of the war like this novel does. You look into the minds of people who lived with the constant threat of becoming a victim of a senseless killer or losing themselves to vices like alcoholism and drugs. What a grand start to a fantastic series!
