The acclaimed author of the “disorienting, creepy, paranoia-inducing” (Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World) A History of Fear returns with a spine-tingling new thriller about a weight loss treatment with potentially murderous side effects.

Retail worker Emmett Truesdale has never fit the Southern California mold of six-pack, suntanned masculinity. Over three hundred pounds, he carries the weight of his childhood trauma and millennial ennui around his waist and in his soul. After trying every diet under the sun, he remains stuck—in his dead-end job, in love, and in his body.

Desperate for help, he enrolls in a clinical trial for a new weight loss product called Obexity. The treatment is as horrifying as the results are miraculous and as Emmett sheds pounds at superhuman speed, every part of his life improves overnight.

Unfortunately, Obexity comes with some killer side effects, including lost stretches of time and overwhelming cravings. Worse, people who were cruel to him have started disappearing and when the police warn of a cannibalistic killer on the loose, he fears that Obexity is turning him into a monster. But how can he give it up now that people are finally starting to treat him like he’s human?

Nerve-racking, sinister, and at times surreal, Nothing Tastes as Good is an unputdownable thriller that combines The Substance with the best of Stephen King and keeps you guessing until the final page.

Luke Dumas is the USA TODAY bestselling author of The Paleontologist and A History of Fear. He is the winner of the 2024 ITW Thriller Award for Best Paperback Original, and his work has been optioned for film and TV. He received his master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Edinburgh and has worked in nonprofit philanthropy for more than a decade. Luke was born and raised in San Diego, California, where he works for a biomedical research institute.

Philip Fracassi is the USA Today bestselling, Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Award nominated author of eight novels, including Sarafina, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre, Gothic, Boys in the Valley, The Third Rule of Time Travel, and A Child Alone with Strangers. His award-winning story collections include Behold the Void, Beneath a Pale Sky, and No One is Safe!  His work has been published in numerous languages, and his short fiction has been featured in dozens of magazines and anthologies, including Best Horror of the Year, Nightmare Magazine, Southwest Review, and Interzone.