The Sweetman Curve by Graham Masterton

Published by

Sarah Ann

on

February 10, 2013

The Sweetman Curve is one of Graham Masterton’s earliest novels. It came out in 1979. This one is about a deadly scientific graph that a corrupt politician uses to his advantage.

In The Sweetman Curve, a sniper kills random people in their cars as they drive on California freeways. John Cullen is driving his father home from the airport when a sniper kills John’s dad right before his eyes.

Unwilling to believe that his father was a random target, John becomes obsessed with finding a reason for his father’s death—a higher “purpose” that gives more meaning to the seemingly random murder. When the same sniper tails John on the freeway once more in an attempt to kill him, John’s suspicion about the murders not being random is confirmed.

With no help from the Los Angeles police department, John goes rogue and begins to investigate the deaths of the sniper’s other victims to find patterns based on their interests and personalities. He quickly learns that all victims are part of a graph known as The Sweetman Curve—a graph that predicts which individuals will become socially influential in years to come. John must find the remaining surviving members of The Sweetman Curve before they’re killed for the sake of fulfilling a nasty politician’s desires.

Graham Masterton is the true king of horror, not Stephen King. Pretty much all of Masterton’s novels are terrifying, disturbing, and violent beyond imagination. The evil characters in The Sweetman Curve are compelling and interesting in the sickest way possible, but of course easy to hate, especially given their graphic and offensive sexual preferences.

The Sweetman Curve isn’t timeless or classic, as it’s loaded with dated pop-culture references the newer generations probably won’t understand. Some of this book’s dialogue is goofy as a result, but that’s okay. Here are a few lines from the hooker Lollie: “I’ve fallen ass over curls in love with you,” and “I want to take your big stiff dork in my lips again.” I dunno readers, does the word, “dork” turn you on?

The conclusion of The Sweetman Curve is abrupt, yet appropriate. It’s not one of Masterton’s best or most memorable novels, but it’s still good.

Other books by Graham Masterton include:

I’ve read and reviewed dozens of books by Graham Masterton because I love him so much. Here are a few:

What are your favorite books by Graham Masterton? What did you think about The Sweetman Curve?

Last Updated on November 30, 2025 by Sarah Ann

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