The Cotard Delusion
The Cotard Delusion by Daniel J. Burke is a 388-page thriller, set in the near future, follows Lieutenant Liam Price on a harrowing journey into the depths of the human mind, the illusions of the society he 
lives in, and the very nature of death. After finding a mutilated woman on three separate occasions, Price and the sole survivor of the crimes, the young Mary Dalton, pursue the case into America’s third world neighborhoods, which have been segregated by genetics.
Investigating the crimes pulls Price into a world of madness and delusion, uncovering mysteries about death, the soul, and alarming truths about a secret society’s connection to the Deus – an alternate dimension they believe to be the original universe.
Through surprising twists and turns, Burke brings creates a world that connects technology and spirituality, raising powerful questions about reality and perception. With unique characters and rich descriptions of a semi-futuristic setting, the narrative is an enveloping experience that keeps readers at the edge of their seats.
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Book Excerpt
Prologue, Pages XXI-XXIII
“Control can be complicated, but it can be made simple too,” said Ragg, the doll. “The art is making complicated scenarios simple. That’s the secret.”
“The secret?” Marie asked.
“Oh yes, a powerful secret. Look at the robin on the lawn.”
Marie stared at the bird. She couldn’t help but focus on its small yellow beak poking around between the dead pines on the ground. “It’s searching . . . frantically . . . for food.”
The bird looked at Marie, tilting its head.
“There’s so much emotion in that bird, so many thoughts,” Ragg continued. “How will it eat? Can it find food for its family? It probably has little ones by the look of desperation on its face. Should it fly away and start over at a new spot? Are its children okay? Those fears are all instinctual, most are . . . and I’m just cracking the surface.”
“That’s complicated.”
“Yes!” Ragg’s stitched mouth curled. “You can’t control all of those feelings. And believe me, you want total control to make them move.”
“Is that why I see colors when I look at the bird?” Marie asked.
“Go on . . .”
“A mesh of colors. It’s not like there are splashes of blue or green in front of me, but it’s like the colors are there, surrounding me. I feel it in my tummy. Sometimes I get nauseous and want to throw up. I see those colors right now when I look at the bird. I think I was starting to do that with the kitten. But after I cracked its neck, I felt the kitten turn red.”
“Interesting,” Ragg said excitedly.
“Very interesting,” Agnes and Clarabelle said.
“Darling, what you are seeing is control,” Ragg said.
“I’m seeing control?”
“Sure, a rare gift to see something so intangible . . .”
“I don’t know if I totally get it.”
“How do you control that robin?”
“Make her complexities simple.”
“Exactly. Birds are the classic example of control.”
“Really?”
“Yes!” Agnes and Clarabelle laughed.
“Shut up, you two!” Ragg said.
Agnes and Clarabelle hid, squishing into Marie’s side.
“What is their most instinctive resource in an emergency for them?”
“Flying.”
“Right . . . the wings.” Ragg licked the stitches around its lips. “You can control birds like a switch, because you can control how fear blankets them.”
“But how?”
“Snap two wings, the bird fears imminent death and comes to accept it quickly, some control, but it doesn’t last very long—so that’s the color red you felt with the kitten in your case. Snap no wings, and it will fly away unharmed. No fear, no control, like that bird . . . a blue color. But if you snap one wing, that’s when you have complete control because the bird will try and fly away. It will try many times. But you know it can’t. You know there’s nothing it can do about the circumstance. Its fears will creep up, and it will accept death. But until it does, you can play any game you want with it. That is yellow.”
About the Author, Daniel J. Burke
Daniel J. Burke is an author, doctor, and musician, which is an elaborate way to say he is a storyteller. At different moments in his journey, he practiced medicine in Kolkata, innovated a theory contributing to neuromuscular research in space, and was the lead guitarist in a medical school cover band “The Flu Fighters”. Daniel wrote The Cotard Delusion during his medical training. When he is not practicing storytelling, he explores his hometown of Philadelphia.
