A Thousand Natural Shocks
“Omar Hussain’s A Thousand Natural Shocks is the most fun reading experience I’ve had in years. It’s a Tarantino movie in book form. And that doesn’t mean it skimps on the ‘book’ part of the equation: it’s smart, lyrical, penetrating, and literary as hell. But it also comes with eight thousand volts of sizzle. You’ll want to read this before everyone else starts talking about it. Just prepare to have your hair singed.”
Darin Strauss, internationally bestselling author of Half a Life
A GoodReads Pick of 2025's Biggest Mysteries and Thrillers
A Murder & Mayhem Pick of the Most Anticipated Mystery, Thriller, and Crime Books of 2025
Named one of Murder & Mayhem’s Most Anticipated Mystery, Thriller, and Crime Books of 2025
Named a Goodreads Best Thriller & Mystery of 2025
Omar Hussain’s dazzling debut, A Thousand Natural Shocks, is a mesmerizing meditation on trauma, memory, and identity wrapped in a high-octane thriller.
Dash, a reporter in Monterey, California, is desperate to outrun his past. During the day, he investigates the reemergence of a long-dormant serial killer. At night, he has become entangled with a criminal cult that promises a pill to erase his traumatic memory.
But as Dash begins to lose his memories—and his sense of self—he discovers a dark secret about the cult, one that would horrify its members. And soon he finds himself in a race against time to evade the cult, unveil the killer, and reconcile his past before his own memories fade away ...
“Omar Hussain’s A Thousand Natural Shocks is the most fun reading experience I’ve had in years. It’s a Tarantino movie in book form. And that doesn’t mean it skimps on the ‘book’ part of the equation: it’s smart, lyrical, penetrating, and literary as hell. But it also comes with eight thousand volts of sizzle. You’ll want to read this before everyone else starts talking about it. Just prepare to have your hair singed.”
Darin Strauss, internationally bestselling author of Half a Life
“An engrossing Northern California noir that balances its pulp instincts with haunting atmospherics and a patiently ticking mystery.”
Stephen Markley, author of Ohio and The Deluge
“Hussain boxes with heavyweights here, going round for round. He has so many ways to get you: the crackling, staccato prose rhythm of Palahniuk’s Fight Club, as well as that book’s frazzled, immersive psychic energy; a ferociously ticking clock careening toward a cataclysmic plot resolution in the manner of Amis’s London Fields; and a captivating mixture of philosophical ambivalence, indignation, and heartbreak around questions of identity that calls Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist to mind. After tangling with the greats, Hussain comes up standing. This is a major debut by a formidable talent.”
Matthew Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of We Are Not Ourselves
“A Thousand Natural Shocks, an investigation into the lasting impact of violence and trauma, is another ‘lyrical and literary’ debut thriller that you need to be on the lookout for this year.”
Murder & Mayhem
Ramiz Monsef has spent several seasons as a member of Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s acting company, and he is the playwright of OSF’s 2013 production The Unfortunates. He has also appeared onstage in New York and in numerous regional productions.