A book about a man with a microwave ray.

[corpsecandle]

Wow, this book scared the hell out of me when I was about eleven. I once found a book when my older cousin was throwing some of her things out but I have no idea what it was called or the author. Can any of you help?

This is what I remember about it:

The cover, as far as I can recall is a man standing next to some sort of machinery. The machinery could be some sort of dish that acts as a deathray (maybe). The cover is weird and bland at the same time.

The basic premise behind the story is about a man who uses a microwave ray to cook people from the inside. The one part that I remember was about a woman who is driving in her car and suddenly she feels very hot. She then says she could "smell sausages cooking" and died by being cooked alive, from the inside.

I think this book was published from the mid-70's to mid-80's. I could be wrong as that is a guess but I would love to know what this book is. I may even see if I can buy if any of you can help me identify it.

[toff]

Do not know but you might also try www.goodreads.com/group/show/185-what-s-the-name-of-that-book

Do you remember if the ray was used from a following car, helicopter, or a satellite? The more keywords that might help narrow it down, the better, I'd guess.

[samdawson]

This won't be much help, but I can at least confirm that you're not imagining it. There was such a book, I think from the late 70s, maybe very early 80s, at a time when there was a whole raft of similar ones about weapons (bioweapons, microwaves, napalm etc) going wrong. Titles I can remember include Project Dracula, Scorch and Vector, none of which is yours. Whatever the book was, I had it, but its name and cover elude me.

[dem bones]

Is it Jeremy Brent's Plastic Man?

[samdawson]

I can't speak for corpsecandle, but if it's the one I'm hopelessly vaguely remembering, then no. 

[corpsecandle]

Sadly not. The cover I recall was nowhere near as exciting as that.

[corpsecandle]

Y'know I don't really know. When I read it as a kid I had a sort of magical thinking because the small part I read I just linked to the cover. All I thought was that he stood on a high-rise block and aimed it at a victim and killed them. Clearly, this isn't what happened, well I am almost certain.

I hate these kinds of recollections because they are like an itch you can't scratch. I can't remember enough for a decent search but I have enough information for it to bother me. There's a song I can't find just like that, it gets no better with age.

[seizure]

Might possibly be The Microwave Caper by Joseph Tabler. The front cover has a melting face but the back cover does have a man standing next to a device.

[corpsecandle]

This looks more likely due to the tag line. I don't remember the front cover I wish I could find an image of the back cover as I think that could solve it.

[seizure]

Hopefully this will show up...

[toff]

[corpsecandle]

Thank you!

That's the book, you solved a mystery for me that has been annoying me for years