Pleasuria Take as Directed (Paperback or Softback)

Think of the pharmaceutical industry as a collection of cautious chemists in lab coats? Think again! John J. Jessop's Pleasuria: Take as Directed offers a wild ride from the Research Triangle to Washington, DC, with a novice private investigator trying to connect the dots between a plane crash, a deadly fall from a high-rise, a NASCAR wreck, and a group of men and women with bizarre sexual responses. You may never again pop a pill with confidence! -- Henry G. Brinton, author of City of Peace

“Take one amateur PI in a serious midlife crisis, add one drug company with a new antidepressant critical to the company’s survival and two attempted murders, and you have the makings for a ripping good story.” – Betsy Ashton, Author, Unintended Consequences and Uncharted Territory, Mad Max Mysteries, Eyes Without a Face

Meet Dr. Jason Longfellow, a bored government scientist in midlife crisis who gets his PI license online and starts investigating murder cases on the weekend. His nurse wife Chelsea thinks he's lost his mind; he's not very good at this second career, can't make any money at it, and they have three daughters to support. Since Jason becomes obsessed with pursuing his new career fulltime, Chelsea must rescue him. Fortunately, she turns out to be an exceptional PI.

It begins with a bizarre board meeting at CureStuff Pharmaceuticals. One of the VPs dies unexpectedly and inexplicably after the Chairman of the Board announces that the company's future depends on the success of their new antidepressant. Jason becomes involved in his first murder case when a ride with his female carpooler goes seriously wrong. His investigation leads him from Research Triangle Park to Washington, DC, as a seemingly random group of people including a pilot, NASCAR driver, high-rise construction worker, and a 75-year-old couple with a revitalized sex life all become victims of a relentless serial killer. This killer has a unique but effective weapon, a prescription drug that will knock your socks off, and then kill you. Will Jason solve the case or fall victim to the killer? His biggest challenge, he must catch the killer before Chelsea strangles him.

An utterly original, darkly comic, laugh-out-loud thriller that truly fits the adage 'laughter is the best medicine'.