cover image Lizard World

Lizard World

Terry Richard Bazes. Livingston (SPD, dist.), $22 trade paper (238p) ISBN 978-1-60489-077-8

Armed with a stolen map scribed by none other than Ponce de Lion, dentist Max Nathan Smedlow sets out on a quest for immortality that takes a curious detour when his car strikes a wayward alligator on a Florida road. Injured in the wreck, Smedlow is accosted and captured by the Fobrey clan, rustics with a long, sordid lineage who have preserved dark knowledge that they cheerfully apply to those unfortunate enough to fall into their hands. Smedlow is soon subjected to imprisonment, abuse, and horrific transformation. Lurid and grotesque, this darkly comic tale revels in depravity and decadence; arcane knowledge leads to horror and ambition leads to destruction. Smedlow would be pitiful if he were at all likable, but like the rest of the cast of self-centered reprobates and criminals, his flaws make his eventual fate amusing rather than poignant. (Nov.)