EYE OF LUCIFER

About the Book

Retch Yoder arrives in a small town called Prophecy in Oregon and wants to join the Authoritarian Church.  He has tremendous powers of persuasion and convinces Matthew and Mildred Branhan who run the church that although he was a high priest in a satanic cult he is now a-born-again Christian. Mildred sees the possibility to bolster her fading bank account because the local TV station is looking for someone to preach on Sunday night.  Retch preaches to the commune and the Bishop agrees he is ready for the TV venture.  Retch is a cluster of contradictions----he takes  up with Paula a local prostitute, a smart gal with a sense of humor and at the same time tries to seduce the young virgins on the “Estate”

Amos Worthing sees a good thing and when the TV show goes well---he transfers it to his Portland KWBC and calls it the Brother Yoder Show.  The Branhans are forced to go along with the arrangement----the donations triple and they see Retch as the goose who lays the golden egg.  Into their environment comes Therese Raquin, a psychic .  She sees him on TV, contacts the Branhans and tells them Retch is wearing heavy karmic ribbons from a previous life.  The Bishop wants her to come to the Estate and find out if Retch is dangerous.  Therese discovers that Retch is a habitual liar, a hypocrite and is seriously contemplating a major crime.

No one can stop him---Retch manipulates everyone including Mildred’s secretary who reveals that Mildred is stashing away thousands of dollars somewhere on the Estate.  Retch is determined to find out where it is and plans to steal it and run away to Canada with Paula his prostitute friend.  When an expose TV show called DISCLOSURE reveals that he is a fake and a phony---he steals the money, kills one of the men who tries to stop him and on his way to Canada with Paula is finally betrayed by the one person he thought he could trust.  Paula kills him for the money and crosses the border without him.

About the Author

Norman Spencer Graham has moved through two other media before he approached the novel. His MFA in Theater helped him write and see mounted five of his plays. The titles of his plays are ARABESQUE, LEGEND OF THE SUN, AN EVENING WITH PRACTICALLY EVERYBODY, AN APPETITE FOR JADE and RETURN ENGAGEMENT. He has also written five original screenplays. NIGHT OF THE SERPENT (cult horror film) THE RAGPICKER, NEVER LOOK BACK, MONDO EROTICA and ONCE UPON A SCOUNDREL Mr. Graham believes the stage gave him an insight into dialogue and the screen---a feeling for structure. Armed with these experiences, approaching the novel was less daunting. A CRYING SHAME is his fifth novel. He has also written DEATH IN GUATEMALA, THE FINAL OBSCENITY THE END .COM, and EYE OF LUCIFER.