Rod Lott, Serpent Girl

Serpent Girl

Rod Lott

Cemetery Dance, May 2008, $35.00

ISBN: 9781587671449

Heading from Portland, Steven Benedetti is passing through the California mountain town of Garver when he sees the sign advertising a carnival. Retired with no place to be, he decides to stop and have fun there. However, what made a carnival fun as a kid no longer is the same as displays like the House of Terror are broken just like life.

Then he hears the barker mention the Serpent Girl and her command of snakes. He goes to see her show. Shocking himself, Steven wants this Carmen Mattox whose sexual enticing show with the snakes around her beautiful body has him in heat with desire. When he intercedes physically on Carmen's behalf during a dispute, she leaves with him. They spend a night together in a nearby motel. They travel together towards his home. However, he begins to have doubts about his companion as he fears she may be more than just a snake charmer; but he cannot put together two coherent thoughts.

This is a superb thriller written by a master magician who uses sleight of the hand to fool the audience into going down one way only to end up totally elsewhere with what may be the twist of the year. The storyline starts off as an erotic tale as the two lead characters cannot have enough of one another. However, just when the reader gets comfortable with the plot, Ray Garton pulls a Twilight Zone worthy spin. Fans will appreciate this wonderful psychological thriller.

Harriet Klausner