From Publishers Weekly
Though this latest horror novel from the author of The Night Mayor draws on conventional elements of the genre, it is a distinguished literary effort rooted in the emotional interiors of three-dimensional characters. Anthony Jago, a former priest with powerful psychic abilities, has set up a religious cult house in the small British town of Alder, the site of an annual Woodstock-style rock festival that attracts members of many different countercultural groups. As the festival opens, Jago's powers turn evil; he is able to raid peoples' minds and hearts and bring their desperate fantasies to life--fantasies that conjure up creatures ranging from evil dwarves to a murdered biker's ghost to a Martian invasion. As Jago begins to recreate the Book of Revelations in Alder, the only hope for the town, and perhaps the world, is Susan Ames, a psychical agent of the British secret service, who has infiltrated Jago's organization. Newman's prose is sophisticated and his narrative drive irresistible. The realistically blase way characters accustomed to the rapidly changing contemporary world react to the sudden appearances of horrors and monstrosities, and the manner in which the supernatural is depicted--as if ghouls and goblins were no less likely than a nuclear bomb or a toxic waste dump--are only two of this fine novel's many strengths.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
From Library Journal
In the English village of Alder, Anthony Jago has set up a religious community called the Agapemone, the "Abode of Love." The residents of Alder for the most part ignore the hippielike, beatifically smiling cultists and the fact that their own young people are being drawn into Jago's influence. However, the Agapemone's yearly rock music festival is nearing and the village is divided: some like the revenue brought in by the concertgoers, while others resent the rowdy hordes. Two researchers infiltrate the commune and discover that Jago, a priest defrocked for sexual misconduct, believes he is the second coming of Jesus and that any who are not the Beloved's Chosen are enemies to be destroyed. As concertgoers pour into Alder, the combination of music, summer heat, and tensions spark a mad culmination of Jago's inhumanly powerful delusions in a riot of visions that threatens to engulf the entire village. By the author of The Night Mayor (Carroll & Graf, 1992) and Bad Dreams (Carroll & Craf, 1991), this novel is recommended for general collections.
- A.M.B. Amantia, Population Crisis Committee Lib., Washington, D.C.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
