William W. Johnstone - Cat's Eye

[dem]

William W. Johnstone - Cat's Eye (Pinnacle, 1989)

Blurb:

SCRATCH. PURR.
Night after night the soft cat noises drifted through the isolated A-frame where famous author Dee Conner retreated to write her romances. Was it another harmless prank pulled by one of her fans? Or was it, something much more sinister ... and deadly ...
SCRATCH. PURR.
Carl Garnett, the bodyguard hired to protect Dee, recognized the sounds for what they were. Demon sounds. Garrett was one of the few survivors of the hushed-up events in Ruger County. But the Lord of Darkness would not make the same mistake twice. The battle was only just beginning-a battle of nerves as well as strength, that would pit one man against the most terrifying evil of all ...


Reeve's County, Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia. Miss Daphne "Call me Dee" Conners, heiress, best-selling author of historical romances (as "Daphne La Crosse"), is persecuted by a stalker who steals her underwear and leaves obscene messages on the phone. Dee is unpopular with local rednecks on account of her philanthropist father buying up thousands of acres of land for Conservationists. Like father, like daughter. Dee donates her royalties to various charities. She built her log mansion right here in the thick of deer country to annoy the Good Old Boys.

Concern for his girl sees Conners hire Carl Garnett, PI, to act as her live-in bodyguard. Carl is already horribly familiar with the district. His late father was sheriff of neighbouring Ruger County during the nightmare years (Cat's Eye is the sequel to Cat's Cradle, which I don't have, so the bodyguard's regular flashbacks are much appreciated).

"Then it came to him, bringing with it old memories of those terrible days just before his father died fighting the evil that had sprung up in Ruger County several years back.

Carl remembered the terror that had spread like wind-whipped wildfire through the town and the surrounding area, He vividly recalled the hideous metamorphosis that had changed humans into drooling subhumans who stalked the countryside, seeking human flesh. And the ordinary house cats that had attacked their owners in a frenzy of bloodlust."

Carl's first advice to his client is that she invest in one of his breeder pal's killer dogs, a half husky, half German Shepherd, but even Dingo isn't swift enough to bring down their prowler, a ghastly travesty of a man who skips nimbly back over the fence before the hellhound can sink its fangs in.

Sheriff Garnett was unpopular with his on-the-take colleagues, the most corrupt of whom, Ned "fat pig" Rodale, now runs the show. He sets his bully boy deputy, Harry Harrison, to harassing Garnett. This backfires when both bodyguard and client complain higher up the chain. Mayor Wilbur Purdy hauls his stooge over the coals, informs him there'll be no point in him standing for reelection, so prepare for retirement. In the meantime, leave Miss Conners and minder alone.

Rodale is incandescent. "Damnit, Wilber! We let up on that rich bitch and she's gonna turn ten thousand acres of the best huntin' land in the state into some sort of sissified preserve so's city folks and fags can come in and ooohhh and aaaahhh over a bunch of damn butterflies."

TBC

A mouldering Peeping Tom; Satanists chanting in the woods; a plague of evil-reeking thumb-size malevolent maggots; cats on the rampage. I think we could be onto a winner here.

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"Tell me, you listen to it [the local radio station] daily, right?"
"Well, yes. Or at least I used to, until about two, no, three months ago. Now I just tune in for the news."
Carl's smile was both sad and knowing. "Let me guess, Dee. They changed their format."
"Why... yes. That's right. They use to play a mixture of soft rock and pop and some country music crossovers. Now they've gone to heavy metal and really hard rock. Groups I've never heard of; I can't even understand the words. Nearly all the advertisers have pulled away. A lot of kids love the music-if that's what you want to call it- but more kids don't than do; they've told me so. But no adult I know of listens to it. With no sponsors, I don't see how they're making it."
"Oh, they've got a sponsor, Dee. And they only need that one."
"Who is it? I never hear any commercials." "Satan."

Financed by old man Conners, Carl Garnett stockpiles enough weaponry for a one-man Jihad versus the forces of Evil.

Bits and bobs of the half-eaten corpse of holy roller Ermma Barstow are found scattered about the woods, clarification that, just as Carl feared, Anya and Pet, the Old Gods electrocuted at close of Cat's Cradle, walk again. Charred beyond recognition, the twin sisters devour the still-beating hearts and organs ripped from their victims.

Dr. Calvin Bartlett, pathologist, and Chief Deputy Jim Hunt (a proud Hillbilly, the only straight cop of the team), witness Ermma's dismembered body parts reanimate to perform lewd acts, prior to busting out front of a locked steel morgue drawer while they are in conference with Garnett.

Slime, Old Gods, rape, "Satanic" rock music, "God, guns and guts," and every cat in the district shaping up like they're in the mood to massacre some Christians. Greg Cox's review of The Nursery ("Without a doubt, one of my least favourite books in the library") in his The Transylvanian Library biblio almost prepared me for what might be in store.