Gods Of L.A. — Tim Lees

"A cult on every corner and a sect on every street..." Throughout the '60s, Nicky Cavell was the unofficial PI to the counter-culture, and knew everybody from the Beatles to the lowest street-dealer. But now the decade's almost over, the daydream's going sour, and Cavell's in Los Angeles, minding an alcoholic rock star. It's a cushy number - at least, until a teenage girl asks tries to emasculate him. Soon he's on the seamy side of Hollywood, in a world of crank religions, crazed disciples, and gurus greedy to co-opt him for the cause. First there's Courtnay, with his bloated ego and his eye for California real estate; then Charlie, a vicious little wild man who looks like Jesus but acts like Genghis Khan. Caught in the middle, Cavell has to sort the innocent from the corrupt, the dangerous from the merely mad. And he doesn't always get it right... Praise for Tim Lees's work: "Tim Lees' compelling fiction beguiles and entertains in equal measure. Original, humane and darkly imaginative." Susanna Jones, author of The Earthquake Bird "Tim Lees is unquestionably one of the most imaginative new voices in genre fiction." Starburst magazine "Every day I thank God for Tim Lees." Andy Cox, editor, Interzone Visit the website at www.timlees.wordpress.com