★ 08/31/2020
The exceptional third supernatural thriller in Kiernan’s Tin Foil Dossier series (after Black Helicopters) evokes Frank Belknap Long’s 1929 story “The Hound of Tindalos” (regarded as the first contribution by another writer to H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos) to deliver an audacious tale of earthshaking cosmic espionage. Los Angeles-based “occult assassin” Ellison Nicodemo has become a dysfunctional drug addict after harrowing experiences in the field. Still, the Signalman, an enigmatic officer of a shadow government security agency, taps Ellison to take on Jehosheba Talog, a Welsh woman with prodigious supernatural powers. Kiernan builds on the cosmic horrors of previous installments as Jehosheba’s activities on behalf of the monstrous Mother Hydra unleash a tidal wave of uncanny phenomena that tears at the very fabric of reality. Ellison’s episodic attempts to stop this tide provide tantalizing glimpses into a deliciously dark world, inviting the reader to envision the broader, more terrifying context in which the events of the story unfold. With this chilling work, Kiernan again proves her mastery of the genre. (Oct.)
