bones of the moon
black cocktail
a child across the sky
outside the dog museum
the panic hand
kissing the beehive
the land of laughs
the marriage of sticks
from the teeth of angels
sleeping in flame
voice of our shadow
Jonathan Carroll's exquisitely rich
contemporary fantasies provoke both adulation and
controversy. The breakdown of reality, the intrusion of the
supernatural, the ambiguous magic of fairy tales, these are
the hallmarks of a Carroll story. With Black Cocktail, he
has written a superb novella centred on friendship, the
tactics of terror, and a search for identity.
Imagine the sort of friend whose funny tales and charm can pull you out of the lowest depths and make life good once more. That's what Michael Billa meant to Ingram York.
Then imagine that friend's friend, someone who tells you that most of those stories are lies. When Clinton Deix shows up, it isn't long before Ingram doesn't know who to believe.
And what most confuses and upsets him is that both say they are old school friends. But Michael is in his late thirties--Clinton is still fifteen.
Clinton insists that Michael has the power to 'freeze' people. And he says Ingram is next in line...
Carroll's
astonishingly powerful work has been acknowledged as a
'pyrotechnical display of sheer brilliance'. At once funny
and chilling, full of magic and illusion, Black Cocktail is
a gripping read from a writer at the height of his power to
disturb and enthrall.
Reviews
"Sinister...Extraordinary fantasy with a
twist of darkness."--The Times
"Sly and
taxing and corrosive...Brilliant"--John Clute,
Observer
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