Little Deadly Things

"Steinman’s novel combines engrossing sci-fi elements, riveting thrills and a fascinating study of the human mind. ...The result is an exceptional tale that’s suspenseful, gritty and endearing. A terrific sci-fi thriller that grips the reader from beginning to end." --Kirkus Reviews

Personal transformation brings out a person’s best—except when it doesn’t. Consider two children, raised by abusive parents. You might end up with a saint. You might end up with a killer…or one of each.

The seeds of an apocalyptic race—to save mankind or to destroy it—were sown in the childhood years of two scientists. Young Eva Rozen witnessed her sister's brutal murder, and barely escaped with her life. She found refuge from madness in the orderly world of science. Twenty-five years later, this master of nanotechnology is the world's wealthiest woman... and the most dangerous.

Marta Cruz also endured a troubled childhood. Her mother's death and her father's incarceration left her an orphan, and a crippling disease left her in pain. Marta's refuge? A tropical rain forest where she discovers plants with miraculous healing properties under the tutelage of her shamanistic grandmother.

The two girls meet in high school and form an uneasy friendship that lasts through college. Eva wants power, profit, and Marta's husband. She offers to fund Marta's public health dreams in exchange for the ailing physician's knowledge of plant-based medicines. Together, they build the world's largest nanotech manufacturer.

When unstable Eva has a psychotic break, and attacks the people who rely on her for survival, only Marta can stand between Eva and the death of millions. But Marta is a healer, not a fighter, and must rely on her husband and teenaged son, a boy who faces a life-or-death challenge well beyond his years.

Here is a chilling look at a future that is already on our doorstep--and a study of the two women who will decide the fate of mankind.



"… a work of descriptive art, with a sense of futuristic realism. I was riveted, page after wonderful page.” -Thomas M. Cirignano, 67 Cents: Creation of a Killer

“…A union of art and science in this thriller… marvelous characters amidst an age of nanotechnological advancement. Harry Steinman rips today’s discoveries from the laboratory and into an emotion-laden thriller with the promise—and peril—of this emerging science. –L. R. Drennan-Harris, Ph.D. Analytical Chemist

“…Little Deadly Things introduces the brilliant but psychotic Eva Rozen, a Boston scientist tormented by both her past and her present. Her mystery and madness propel the reader, revealing surprises at every turn."-- Deborah Swiss, The Tin Ticket

Harry Steinman’s life experience includes stints as a box boy in a toilet paper factory, security guard, hippie commune leader, recruiter in a toy factory, substitute math teacher, accountant, New Age religious community troublemaker, headhunter, and dog trainer—the textbook background of a novelist. Today, Harry gets by while at work on All Dead Generations, the sequel to Little Deadly Things.