The N — Robert Morgan

Present-day, Deep South and rural Blasingame County, Alabama, isn't the place one would normally associate with an ancient Chinese wizard's curse, creatures from the underworld of ancient religious mythology, and a snappish Japanese national with State Department credentials.

Yet, a monster hunt is in order, and so is a clash of cultures, religions, and personalities.

It will take the efforts of the unlucky county sheriff and the bitter, driven monster-hunter from Japan to rid Blasingame County of a monster whose only limitation is a commonplace vine that grows all over the South.