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Fringe - The Zodiac Paradox (Book Review)

The new prequel novel Fringe - The Zodiac Paradox by Christa Faust will take readers on a journey with Walter Bishop that delves straight into the Fringe universe. The year is 1974 and our university students William Bell and Walter Bishop are testing out a strange, mind-altering compound in an attempt to connect their subconscious minds. The results of their experiment far exceed their expectation and a gateway between two universes opens. A menacing serial killer comes through the rip in space and it is up to Walter, William and Nina Sharp to stop him.

Christa Faust has worked hand-in-hand with the team of the television writers to develop a brand new set of adventures that will unravel everything you thought about the series. These stories have never appeared onscreen and will give fans of the series a real treat. Often, it is hard to deal with a favorite television series coming to an end, and this is what makes the new book series set in the Fringe universe so great. The best way to return to one of your favorite universes is with tie-in novels and this is exactly were the The Zodiac Paradox fits in. Readers will partake on an adventure that happened before the TV series and join our beloved characters in stopping a killer by using Fringe science during the 1970s.

Fringe - The Zodiac Paradox stars the characters William Bell and Walter Bishop, as well as, how they come to know Nina Sharp when the three are fresh out of graduate school. The story takes place in San Francisco during the mid-70s and has our team taking on the infamous Zodiac Killer. Bishop and Bell open a gateway with their minds while tripping on a super "special mixture" of acid that allows the killer to slip through from an alternate universe.

Faust has managed to do everything right here and captures the characters, as well as, the Fringe universe perfectly. Readers will feel like they are reading something straight out of the television show which is amazingly hard to do with a novel. The author manages to give us enough insight into the mind of Walter Bishop and the Zodiac Killer without overdoing it and manages to create a greater depth of understanding for what will occur along the way.

The horror within The Zodiac Paradox is cleverly paced and fills the reader with terrifying suspense that you can’t help but to keep reading. Faust manages to deliver frights and chills in the Fringe universe like never before and this is why she was the perfect choice for these new novels. Her past work in the horror universe has included tie-in novels for Supernatural, A Nightmare on Elm Street and even The Twilight Zone.

The story unfolds over 368 pages that is told in short chapters that end on cliff-hangers in order to keep the reader coming back. Faust manages to capture the true historical nature of a 1974 version of San Francisco that keeps the reader grounded in a real environment while exploring the supernatural around them. Also, the details for the Zodiac Killer were finely detailed and explored which lets the reader know that the author really done her research.

Fringe - The Zodiac Paradox releases on May 14, 2013 and is a must-own for anyone who is a fan of the Fringe series or interested in the Zodiac Killer. If you have missed the television show as much as I have then you will get this novel today and anxiously await the next two books in the series releasing later this year. To learn more, visit the official Titan Books website.

Written by: Christa Faust
Published by: Titan Books
Release Date: May 14, 2013

Score: 4.5 out of 5

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