Hodge (Lies and Ugliness
) gives the serial killer a makeover with a daub of metaphysical murk in this intelligent but talky tale of horror. What begins as a tale about an Internet stalker targeting members of a near-death-experience chat group morphs quickly into a farfetched account of a nasty Gnostic avatar that harvests the souls of those who have tasted the afterlife. There's no easy way for the complex principles of Gnosticism to emerge naturally through the actions of the characters, so Hodge provides the reader with a tutorial plopped in chunky blocks of exposition throughout the text. This story has more cerebral ambitions than most supernatural fiction, and they are realized entirely at the expense of any thrills. (Aug.)
