LULLABY

Not to be confused with Oakley Hall's Lullaby (1981, p. 1537), this crushingly unbelievable paranormal horror-novel stars vile Robert Lager--who receives a secret herbal mix called GAUZE from a 130-year-old scorpion/shaman in the desert. This stuff, when properly given, makes one disembodied: a perfect spy. So ""The Agency""--a US spy group more vicious than the CIA--accepts greedy Lager's offer to experiment, but when the tests go fatally awry, the Agency sends out a team to find Lager--who, however, has become ""Lea Hale"" via plastic surgery and more shaman sessions in the desert. And Lager/Hale must now feed the Furies--who delight in eating the souls of children! How will he do it? By buying a private camp for boys and girls aged 8-15, invading the kids' dreams, and driving them to violence. Meanwhile Lager's ex-wife Ellen has coincidentally sent their daughter Linda to the camp (she thinks Lager is dead), where Linda falls for young counselor Ira (who's slated for her dad's vengeance). But psychologist John Rossman is also on hand--and his investigation will reveal Lager's secret astral activity. Finally, then: kids get slashed, the Furies get Lager, and unsuspecting readers get nothing but a headache.