The Lovecraft Squad: Dreaming

Series creator Jones continues the adventures of the Lovecraft Squad, more properly known as the Human Protection League, in this entertaining shared-world anthology that marries fiction to historical events. The HPL was created by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to combat otherworldly horrors. In these stories, President John F. Kennedy disrupts a demonic ritual sacrifice, black astronaut Magnolia Jones goes to the moon to uncover a monstrous infestation, and a search for the original “Water Gate” in Washington, D.C., takes two HPL agents to an underground river and the true source of Richard Nixon’s power. Following a New York City blackout, a supernatural soul sister, Nefertiti Bronze, uses her voodoo musical talent to defeat an otherworldly menace. A female HPL agent on the Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme detail gets recalled when the HPL headquarters beneath the Washington Monument comes under attack. The authors—including Kim Newman, Stephen Baxter, and Michael Marshall Smith—have fun crafting a secret history of 20th-century America and using historical figures and clever inside references as critical commentary on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Series fans will find this a satisfying addition. (Nov.)