Read The First 20 Pages Of ‘Zombieland’ Co-Screenwriter Rhett Reese’s Novel ‘Anxiety’
By Peter Sciretta/Nov. 5, 2010 12:00 pm EST
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Reese was inspired by an 1990’s article from the Los Angeles Times about very small motels that exist in tiny towns near the border of California and Arizona catering to a specific clientele who doesn’t just stay the night, “but who stay for weeks, months and even years.” Reese tells io9:
A described as " a novel of suspense about overcoming fear in the extreme."
“The clientele tends to be a kind of person who has dropped out of society for one reason or another. There are drug addicts, men fleeing alimony payments, there are people who have had nervous breakdowns, people who are just trying to escape something. And when I read that article I thought, wouldn’t that be a wonderful setting for a thriller.”
Josh Redding, 26, is afflicted by severe, debilitating panic attacks. Once an accomplished student with a sharp wit and a bright future, Josh has retreated from the world into a motel room in the small desert town of Joy, Arizona. There, he awaits his turn to die. And someone wants to give him his wish.
