FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Messiah of Monsters
My father’s middle name is crazy. It should be mine too, according to my mother and Greg, my mother’s husband. My first name is Sam, short for Samael, not Samuel. It’s biblical, but not in a conventional good-lad-goes-to-church sort of way.
In Messiah of Monsters (320 pp., tpb, $13.99, Kindle, $5.99), Chicago area author R. A. Dunn introduces us to Sam Bladen and a menagerie of other miscreants: juvenile delinquents, whores, and literal sideshow freaks. As the story’s unreliable narrator, Sam crafts a tale that is at once believable and fantastic. He divides his time between Storm King, a small town in the Catskills “situated at the ass end of the universe,” the seat of his mundane life, and Sheepshead, a decaying oceanside borough outside New York City, home to the Sans Merci performance troupe.
A fresh entry into the erotic horror genre, Dunn describes her work as offspring of Chuck Palahniuk and circa-1990s Poppy Z. Brite. She veers away from the modern realm of romanticized monsters, werewolves, and sparking vampires. Instead, she draws the reader into a fascinating mythology which combines ancient legends with modern sexuality and body rituals. Early reception of the novel at pre-release readings described it as: “riveting,” “sensual and poetic,” as well as “graphically well crafted” with “detailed characterization.”
Written as a revealing first-person confession, Messiah of Monsters is an intoxicating combination of graphic sex and cerebral horror. Initially, Sam’s self-destructive behavior appears to be the root of his problems with long-time sidekick and confidant, Danny Eagan. Though their relationship survives a morass of small town bullies, fickle friendships, and personal betrayals, it isn’t enough to steer Sam away from Brande, a member of the Sans Merci Troupe, a suspension artist, and self-styled Messiah of Monsters. Under the charismatic freak’s tortuous tutelage, Sam begins an agonizing process which leads him to question the very basis of human morality.
R, A. Dunn works as a tutor, consultant, and freelance editor in Chicago, IL. She has a double degree in Anthropology and Creative Writing from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, and received her Masters in Anthropology from Kent State University. Not limited to erotica, Dunn is currently planning a project which involves both a travelogue and her self-described magnum opus, a historical novel spanning much of 15th century Ottoman history. Dunn operates a writer's blog at dangerousfiction.blogger.net. She is also active on many forms of social media, including Facebook and Twitter. Her professional website is located at www.cityofglass.com.
ISBN: 1468175475
The book is currently available on Amazon.com and through other Distributors.
To arrange a book signing or interview, contact Ridgely Dunn at XXX-XXX-XXXX or by email at dunn.ridgely@gmail.com.
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