The third book in the University of the Damned series, and my fourth book overall, is now available in paperback and for Amazon Kindle™.
This third installment, Let Us Prey, picks up where Sport of the Gods left off. It overlaps a little, actually. January 1974: As the story opens, Nick’s father is beside himself with remorse over abandoning his son during the darkest hour. When he confesses his sins to the parish priest, the Monsignor tells him that the absolution he seeks cannot come from him; it must come from Nick.
Nick just wants to try and forget the past year and get on with his life. But he is plagued with inner demons as a result of his traumatic ordeal, and almost angrily lashes out at a friend who inadvertently triggers a flashback. He’s an emotional wreck, but he’s been trying to compensate with a strict workout regimen. The once tall, skinny Iceman has become a muscular stud, but deep down inside he’s just a frightened little boy.
Meanwhile, Nick has a job to do. He’s been reluctantly promoted to editor of the college newspaper and has to assemble a new staff, one of whom is an overly-religious zealot who just won’t shut up about what Nick calls his “imaginary friends.” Meanwhile, students on campus are beginning to behave strangely. The staff holy-roller attributes this to satanic possession, but Nick suspects something darker and more evil is going on in the science department. All the while, Nick battles his inner demons … and can’t help noticing when the same demons set their sights on his little brother! Something unholy is going on at church, and Nick digs to get the the bottom of the whole sordid mess … then he has to get the parents who already doubted him once to believe him!
Oh, and did I mention that there’s a hurricane coming?
This is the first volume in the series where I did the cover completely by myself. The cover painting is based on a photograph I took of St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. History buffs will appreciate the little bits of actual history I threw in for verisimilitude (I really like that word!) like the pardon of Richard Nixon. Nick and his new staff will get that news a day or two late, as the same night Gerald Ford made his address to the nation, Hurricane Carmen was bearing down on the Louisiana coastline. (You might remember it as the same hurricane Gary Sinise faces off against in Forrest Gump, and I give a little wink to the good folks over at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. I’m not trying to plagiarize Forrest Gump, we just happen to be working from the same history book.)
It’s available in paperback or for Kindle. I’d like to make it available to other reader formats once I figure out how to do that. You can find all of my titles — including previews of coming titles — in my Online Bookstore.
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