In this standalone, Edgar-award winning author, Joe R. Lansdale, whom
"few can match" (Booklist) beams a light on an East Texas town where a
QAnon-style, evangelist cult is brewing trouble.
Charlie Garner has a bad feeling. His ex-wife, Meg, has been missing for
over a week and one quick peek into her home shows all her possessions
packed up in boxes. Neighbors claim she's running from bill collectors,
but Charlie suspects something more sinister is afoot. Meg was last seen
working at the local donut shop, a business run by a shadow group most
refer to as 'The Saucer People'; a space-age, evangelist cult who
believe their compound to be the site of an extraterrestrial Second
Coming.
Along with his brother, Felix, and beautiful, randy journalist Amelia
"Scrappy" Moon, Charlie uncovers strange and frightening details about
the compound (read: a massive, doomsday storehouse of weapons, a leashed
chimpanzee!) When the body of their key informer is found dead with his
arms ripped out of their sockets, Charlie knows he's in danger but
remains dogged in his quest to rescue Meg.
Brimming with colorful characters and Lansdale's characteristic bounce,
this rollicking crime novel examines the insidious rise of fringe groups
and those under their sway with black comedy and glints of pathos.
