The Apostate
by Paul Lonardo. Hollis Books. $12.95

What's it about? "While regarded in the fantasy/SF genre, it has all the trappings of mainstream thriller / adventure novel," author Paul Lonardo told VZSciFi. "However, the supernatural element is subtle, and downplayed enough so as not to be campy.
"The story is not about Satan, but about three people who find each other and soon discover that they were, in fact, brought together for a special purpose. What that purpose is, is unraveled slowly, and what it points to can be only one thing: that they just might be a new holy trinity assembled for the purpose of defeating eternal darkness. But that's obviously something that is difficult to come to terms with.
"What makes my story different is that the heroes in my book have to decide (without any real proof) if they should continue to track and presumably put an end to the life of a person they only suspect is the dark prince. The reader is taken along for a ride of mystery and discovery, terror and wonder as the three protagonists come face to face with the evil that is growing in Caldera, New Mexico and looking to expand beyond its borders."

Review by K. Stoddard Hayes
In his first novel, Paul Lonardo spins a dark fantasy of Biblical reckoning, unfolding in the fictional southwestern city of Caldera. An environmental biologist, a psychologist, and a runaway teenager are drawn together, seemingly by chance, to seek the cause of the environmental and social danger signs that beset the city.
A plague of carnivorous rats, a compulsive womanizer, and a popular chain of bakeries are among the clues which lead the trio to conclude that Satan himself has occupied Caldera. There's plenty of inventiveness here, and some intriguing characters.
The novel's main weakness is that Mr. Lonardo still has a lot to learn about storytelling. Some scenes and events are compelling, while others are sabotaged by wordiness, cliched writing, and characters behaving inexplicably. He does maintain enough momentum and interest to bring the story right to the brink of the final confrontation between the heroes and the Evil One.
Then, unfortunately, he lets his readers down. Instead of placing his characters in the middle of a cataclysm worthy of the big screen, he dismisses it in a few pages of narrative that might as well be a textbook.
I admire Mr. Lonardo's enthusiasm and energy in self-publishing and promoting his book, but I hope that before he publishes the next one, he will further develop his skills to do more justice to his imagination.

K. Stoddard Hayes is regular contributor to several genre magazines including Star Trek Monthly and Xena. Her series of background mythos articles in Babylon 5 Magazine earned high praise from readers.

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