THE COLD SMELL OF SACRED STONE

by George C. Chesbro ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1988

Book six in the ""Mongo"" series: an outrÉ blend of parables, psychotropic drugs and circus tricks, plus past book reprises--Loge and the Valhalla Project, ninjas, living Vietnam casualties, world-class conspiracies, and Whisper. This time, the dwarf criminologist's brother Garth lies catatonic in a DIA clinic, the first victim ever of nitrophenylpentadienal (NPPD) poisoning. What rouses him? Tapes of the Ring cycle, which releases his Valhalla-induced rage--except that he emerges in the third-person (""Garth had to leave 'I' behind in order to come back to the surface"") with a do-gooder complex (his only interest is in helping the totally helpless). Is Mongo pleased? No, petulant, and he arranges Garth's immediate release, whereupon Mongo-phobic, K.G.B.-controlled Charles Slycke, clinic director, is murdered; staff are butchered; and Garth and others--all-too-helpful nurse Tommy Carling and nut case par excellence Marl Braxton--disappear, only to resurrect in the tabloids four months later with Garth featured as an on-earth Messiah with a world-wide (cult) following. His first miracle: unblinding Harry August (a not-blind con man). Prompted by his parents, Mongo investigates and--with the aid of DIA director Lippitt, assassin-turned-artist Veil Kendry, and Dane the undoubtedly loony kid--uncovers a K.G.B. scheme to plastique Garth's Mission building, then assassinate him, and frame two Mossad agents, thus blaming the Jews (again) for being virulently Anti-Christ. However, the NPPD has passed through Garth's system by now, and he's back to his usual first-person heroics, working with Mongo, et al., to dispatch the fiends, including K.G.B.-trained Tommy and his superior, the not-nun Sister Kate. Kvetchy, preachy, pouty, exploitive claptrap. Chesbro will make no converts with this one.

Pub Date: March 1, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION