Harlot and the Beast continues dark horror of Terra Drake saga

 

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In author Dean Patrick’s The Harlot and the Beast, TWB Press, large swaths of people move deliberately to a demonic gathering/concert. It’s a celebration of perversion and evil, presided over by the beautiful Terra Drake, once known as Lilith, Adam of the Bible's other wife.

In Patrick’s Terra Drake novels, this demon is with us in these latter times, and searching for converts. Grotesque images converge toward the crowd. Demons supporting Terra Drake – most with multi personalities and names – pay homage to her empire. Cain, Jack the Ripper, Adrian Kane, Rex Brody, Mr. Boogie, serial killers galore, an emaciated hag that haunts roadside gas ‘n gulps, and many other obscenities, all are there, entertaining the deceived, hyponotized-like masses.

That’s just one of many descriptive, intense scenes Patrick provides in this superbly crafted novel. To Patrick, a recovering alcoholic, Terra Drake’s empire is in league with modern-day depravities and horrors. It’s her goal to draw and suffocate people in these dysfunctions, and lose their souls.

Writer Patrick draws from terrible, dysfunctional episodes in his addiction past to convey to readers the horror of his tales. One of his settings is rural Duncan, Utah, which represents Morgan, Utah.

Terra Drake destroys people, families, communities, and the culture. A horrific mix of sex, peer pressure, addiction and violence fuels her bloody reign. Patrick’s two previous novels in the Terra Drake trilogy, The Lady Mephistoles, and Terra’s Sabbath, charted her path of enslaving humanity. In the first novel, a brave but doomed addict named Steve Paul gave his best effort against Terra.

When he died, his brother Marion Paul, a police officer, takes on the fight. Marion is a stronger man, and he’s full of righteous anger. He can cause wounds to Terra and her crew, but he’s still overmatched in numbers and power. In The Harlot and the Beast, he also has other major stresses. He needs to rescue the woman he loves, and his daughter, both captured by Terra Drake and lost in New Orleans.

Marion Paul is a strong, admirable hero to root for. He reminds me of Gary Sinise’s character in the TV adaptation in The Stand. In Stephen King’s novel, Sinise’s Stu Redman is ultimately the most influential adversary of Satan against those allied against him. So is Marion Paul is Patrick’s trilogy. Despite setback after setback to the “good people” in The Harlot and The Beast – including a memorable, heartbreaking scene outdoors among Paul’s extended family – Marion Paul never gives up fighting evil. His sanity is stretched, but never breaks.

You can purchase The Harlot and the Beast via Amazon here. You can follow Dean Patrick at Amazon here. Also Patrick’s author website is here. TWB Press website is here. A video teaser for The Harlot and the Beast is here. Chats with Dean Patrick are here, here, here, and here.

-          Doug Gibson