cover image Pretty Ugly

Pretty Ugly

Sean Hillen. CreateSpace, $16.95 trade paper (332p) ISBN 978-1-5233-6115-1

A one-vehicle accident on a Missouri highway sets the stage for Hillen’s observant, expansive medical mystery. The vision of the driver, fashion model Patricia Roberts, was inexplicably compromised; Patricia’s passenger, a fellow model, now lies in a coma, and Patricia is recovering physically and psychologically at a Boston hospital. When Patricia’s skin care specialist, Doctor Gray, contacts Belfast-born Colm Heaney, a lovelorn medical reporter, about her case, Colm investigates whether Patricia’s temporary blindness and additional tissue damage were caused by “rogue chemicals” contained in a skin concealer utilizing experimental nanotechnology. His quest for information leads him to the folklore-steeped Irish countryside, where Patricia later undergoes skin treatments at the hands of an eccentric biologist tapping the restorative powers of Irish bog peat. The backroom discussions among secondary characters representing the legal, medical, cosmetic, and media industries can be dizzying, but Hillen’s cautionary tale about the perils of unregulated technology will resonate with many readers. (BookLife)