This book unfortunately didn’t wow me the way I wanted it to. The cover was incredible, and the premise really interesting, but I wanted this to be at the caliber of Dark Matter and it just wasn’t. Not bad by any means but not incredible. I think people looking for a less thrilling thriller will enjoy.

Dash Hassan wants out — out of his past, out of his pain, maybe even out of his own mind. In “A Thousand Natural Shocks” (Blackstone, $27.99), a genre-bending read by Omar Hussain, a haunted journalist fakes being stalked by a serial killer to save his job, only for the real killer to resurface.

As Dash spirals deeper into a memory-erasing cult and reality begins to fracture, the story becomes a surreal, propulsive dive into grief, identity and the allure of oblivion. Part noir, part existential trip, this is an incisive thriller that asks: If you could forget everything, would you? Should you?

Fans of beautiful prose and contemplations on grief, trauma, memory and family will absolutely love A Thousand Natural Shocks.

Dash is a reporter in Monterey, CA when a serial killer starts plaguing the city. He sets out to investigate and write a story about the killer, while simultaneously keeping up with the Subterraneans, a cult he recently joined. The Subterraneans promise the ability to wipe out memories with a special pill treatment and Dash is desperate to get rid of the heart wrenching pain of his past, so he participates in their strange rituals. As he tries to hunt a killer and keep his memories at bay, he's forced to face his past and what it would really mean to forget it all.

This was a hard one for me to review. I think it's 3.5 stars for me, rounded up to 4. The way Hussain explores grief and maladaptive coping mechanisms with stunning prose is captivating, and I was equally intrigued by the Subterraneans and their mysterious pills, but the ending felt a little too ambiguous to me, and I had a few questions I wish were addressed more directly. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't say anything specific, but the ending made the rest of the story feel like a puzzle box that never explained all of it's facets. I'm okay with some loose ends, but I think I wanted just a little more interconnection between the different plot lines going on. However, I also think in a literary sense, this was a solid story, and I think fans of literary fiction will probably enjoy the ending more than me!

cool! gripping, fracturing, mind-bending, unique. creates a world for itself very reminiscent of a black mirror-esque world. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

A Thousand Natural Shocks is a haunting psychological thriller about memory, identity, and the price of forgetting. When Dash, a tormented journalist, stumbles onto the trail of a serial killer in Monterey, California, he’s lured into the orbit of a secretive cult offering salvation in the form of a memory-erasing pill. But as he tries to rewrite his past, his present begins to unravel. Reality blurs, identities fracture, and the truth becomes more elusive than ever. Dark, twisty, and deeply human, Omar Hussain’s debut is a genre-bending dive into the mind’s most fragile corners—where the deepest scars are the ones we choose to forget.

A Thousand Natural Shocks is a gripping, genre-bending thriller that plunges readers into the unraveling mind of a man trying to rewrite his past while holding onto his present. Set against the moody backdrop of Monterey, California, the novel follows Dash—a haunted reporter chasing the story of a reemerging serial killer by day and chasing oblivion by night, courtesy of a memory-erasing pill offered by a mysterious cult.

What starts as a hard-boiled crime investigation quickly morphs into something more cerebral and surreal. As Dash’s memories begin to fragment, so does his identity. The lines between reality and illusion blur, and the tension becomes as much psychological as it is physical. The cult’s promise—to erase pain and trauma—comes at a steep and sinister price, and Dash's desperate bid to outrun his past morphs into a battle to remember who he really is.

The novel’s brilliance lies in its layered storytelling. It’s part noir mystery, part speculative horror, and entirely riveting. The prose is sharp and introspective, matching Dash’s deteriorating mental state with a haunting elegance. As the serial killer case intensifies and the cult’s true agenda comes to light, the pace quickens toward a conclusion that is both shocking and tragically human.

A Thousand Natural Shocks explores the cost of forgetting, the fragility of identity, and the terrifying idea that what defines us can be lost—not just stolen, but willingly given up. Fans of Black Mirror, Donnie Darko, or The Silent Patient will find much to love here.

A dark, twisty, and emotionally resonant read, this book lingers in the mind like a half-remembered dream. This is a really good debut novel for Omar Hussain.

Rating: 4.6/5

I liked this book a lot!! I thought it was such a unique and interesting concept. It did remind me of a black mirror type of show. I think it was written very well and had so much good writing and good plot in it. I enjoyed the twists and turns and just really enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!