Matthew Hughes 
Paroxysm 

Mad as Hell – and Loving It!Ruthless mercenaries, hired by an ex-Pentagon chemical-weapons designer turned rogue, take over a small town in Oregon. The plan: use the citizenry as guinea pigs in a test-run of a bootlegged bio-agent for an Islamist terror organization.But something goes wrong and the mercs and their clients find themselves surrounded by townsfolk who have turned into hyper-coordinated killing machines.PAROXYSM is an action-packed tale about the seductive power of righteous violence, about how ordinary people can explode when fate gives them the power to hit back.Praise for Matthew Hughes:"Matthew Hughes does Jack Vance better than anyone except Jack himself" – George R.R. Martin"Heir apparent to Jack Vance" – Booklist"Hughes’s boldness is admirable"- New York Review of Science Fiction"Hughes effortlessly renders fantastic worlds and beings believable"- Publishers Weekly"A towering talent"- Robert J. Sawyer"A treasure" – David Gerrold