Shagduk (De re dordica, Book One)

The year is 1977. Professor Sherwood has gone missing. Between working at the library and playing gigs in Fort Worth holes-in-the-wall after hours, Steven and his pal Randy set out to discover why, unwittingly summoning a demon and setting into motion a chain of astonishing events that could put the entire world at risk of total destruction. This is the debut of a deftly comedic voice capable of circling back to dread in a moment, one strong enough to carry the crackle of North Texas before the oil bust, the solitude of youth spent under the wide prairie skies, resolving in a crescendo of album-oriented rock radio and dire conflict between the hard-bitten optimism of the natives of this strange land and something far more alien and sinister.