Deep Blue — David Niall Wilson

From award-winning author David Niall Wilson, what Publishers Weekly calls : ...an engrossing, poetic novel of spiritual evil... Brandt is a down-and-out guitarist and vocalist who believes his life has hit rock bottom. He can't make the rent on his apartment, he drinks so much he can barely make it to the crappy gig that keeps his band afloat, let alone play when he gets there. When he leaves the bar one dark night with a bottle of Jose Cuervo in one hand and his guitar case in the other, he finds he's locked out of his apartment with no where to go.In an alley filled with trash can fires and homeless vagrants, Brandt meets Wally, an old black man who can play the music that Brandt dreams of ??? the blues. In the ensuing encounter, Brandt is gifted ??? or cursed ??? with new abilities. He feels the pain building up around him and inside him. Not his own pain, but the pain of others, the pain of those who have passed away, the pain of those who died with no one to hear their stories. He becomes a conduit for the pain of the world.What follows are a series of revelations, one for each member of the band, and one for a young girl named Liz, drawing them together, and ultimately reuniting them with Brandt. Together, Brandt, Sinthia, Shaver, Dexter and Liz take off to the mountain town of Friendly California for a date with pain, destiny, and a silver haired Reverend who would like to see them dead. In the final showdown, they must meet the challenge of the music, the pain, and their mingled histories and stand, or fall, with the pain of the world in the balance.PRAISE FOR DEEP BLUE: Wilson demonstrates that a horror novel doesn't need gallons of blood to succeed, that spiritual terror can be even more effective. - Publisher's WeeklyThrough some great musical imagery and engrossing sub-plots, David Niall Wilson has written a captivating story that is full of surprises. - SF Site -Featured reviewWilson paints liquid rainbows when he describes each band member's experience behind his or her newly-rediscovered instruments and skills, and if this were all that the book were about, it would be enough. But there's plenty more going on in Deep Blue to satisfy the author's fans (who are used to him not sticking to genre conventions) and to draw in plenty of new ones. Craig's Booklist Reviews