Body Surfing »

Dale Peck was born on Long Island and is the author of several novels, including Martin and John, a collection of short stories, and a family memoir. His short fiction has appeared in Artforum, BOMB, The London Review of Books, The New Republic, The New York Times, and The Village Voice. He also teaches creative writing and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1995. He lives in New York.

From one of America's most acclaimed writers, a startling and visionary novel about a race of demons who inhabit humans and wreak havoc on the lives of two small-town boys.

In a small town in upstate New York, best friends Q. and Jasper live typical high school lives filled with parties and girls. When Q. starts acting recklessly, defacing lockers and misusing Bunsen burners, Jasper thinks his buddy is just letting off steam. But when his actions put both of their lives in danger, it's clear that Q. is possessed by something far more sinister than mere teenage high spirits.

Meanwhile, halfway around the world in Khartoum, Ileana Magdalen is tracking an elusive man who has left a trail of blood and bodies behind him, bringing strife, war, and genocide wherever he goes. It is Ileana's mission to stop him, for she is a member of an elite group of hunters initiated into a mystery that plagues humanity and drives men and women to commit unspeakable crimes.

When Ileana, Q., and Jasper are brought together, the loyalties of friendship are tested in unimaginable ways, and the living, the dead, and those who are beyond death become entangled in a violent battle as old as mankind itself.

In Body Surfing, celebrated author Dale Peck presents a beautifully written page-turner of a literary thriller. It is a mesmerizing tale in which a complete parallel universe is filled with shockingly dark corners where the secrets of human nature wait to be discovered.

Publishers Weekly

Well-known for his eviscerating book reviews, Peck (Hatchet Jobs) takes a stab at visceral horror in this sex-laden supernatural thriller set in upstate New York. Since time immemorial, a race of sexually voracious demons known as Mogran have "surfed" the bodies of human victims, taking temporary possession before exiting at orgasm. While possessed, their hosts enjoy miraculous powers to recover from catastrophic injury, as teenager Jasper Van Arsdale discovers when his best friend, Q., in the clutches of a polymorphously perverse Mogran named Leo, drives a speeding car with them and their girlfriends into a mountain. After the accident, Jasper and Q. team up with a pair of Mogran hunters to track down the malevolent Leo. Peck paces his tale at breakneck speed, twisting the plot through numerous surprises that are perfectly accommodated by the elaborate metaphysics of Mogran existence. Gleefully gory, sexually provocative and surprisingly funny, this tale of lusty demons and their human prey is one hell of a ride. (Feb.)

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