Messenger

Well, it's about time that Edward Lee went postal! Although MESSENGER is considered "lesser Lee" but some of his fans, I found that it held up extremely well, a sharp, quick, hardknock novel that just runs full-throttle. A post office haunted by demonic forces that possess many of the employees is just such a superb idea, and Lee makes it wild, weird, and vicious as all get-out. A fast and furious read that will appeal to anyone who likes something seriously out of the norm and isn't afraid of a lot of hellish kinkiness along the way.

I had heard rumors of Edward Lee and what a great horror writer he was but I had never read any of his books. So I took a chance and ordered Messenger and devoured the book in two days. This book is NOT for the squeamish and while not the greatest of 'writers' Edward Lee is a wonderful 'storyteller'. While the book just kind of floats along from one violent act to another without a lot of character development it is still a fun as hell read with plenty of Oh My God spots. If you are a true Splatterpunk fan I HIGHYLY reccomend Edward Lee...Just remember if you get hooked on the guy the majority of his books are VERY hard to find and average about 40 bucks a book.

This was the first novel of this author that I have had the priviledge to read. I usually never finish a book in one sitting but this book was an exception...it was riveting and I intend to read more books by this author.

I am an unabashed Edward Lee fan. Although I have only read a few of his novels, the smorgasbord of unsettling violence, intense erotica, and whiplash prose make his writings enormous fun for a dedicated horror fan. The biggest problem facing a potential reader is how to acquire many of his books and short stories. Nearly all of his old mass-market efforts are out of print, many other novels and collections are available only through wallet busting small press editions, and the subject matter of a majority of his tales virtually insures much of his work will remain in obscurity. In other words, I am an Ed Lee fan insofar as my meager funds allow. It does appear a ray of hope is breaking on the horizon: Lee now writes novels for mass market powerhouse Leisure press, and a few of his earlier works are starting to reappear in slightly more affordable trade paperbacks. "Messenger" falls into the mass-market cheapie paperback category. Lee's Leisure publications unfortunately tone down the over the top violence we're used to, perhaps in an effort to appeal to a general audience incapable of accepting the sorts of atrocities outlined in "The Bighead" and "Portrait of a Psychopath as a Young Woman," two other Lee novels that wallow in depravity. Still, watered down Ed Lee is preferable to no Lee at all. "Messenger" tells the story of a series of horrific nightmares unfolding in the town of Danelleton, Florida. It's a nice town, a town where everyone waves to everyone else. It's a town that's starting to grow into a small city, which requires the postal service to open a second mail hub in order to handle the explosion of packages, letters, and other correspondence endemic to a bustling population center. Roughly twenty years before the main events of the story, a mysterious package arrived at the Danelleton post office, a package that led directly to a killing spree of epic proportions. Now, two decades later, the horror that unfolded in Danelleton on a beautiful Florida day once again rears its ugly head. But no one makes the connection at first, not the postmaster of the new branch office, Jane Ryan, or chief of police Steve Higgins, or anyone else in town. When a pretty, mild mannered postal employee named Marlene Troy strolls into the main post office and pumps bullets into everyone she finds, warning flags start to fly. An enigmatic message Troy left behind, a sketch of a bell with a star emblem, soon appears at subsequent mass killings committed by other postal employees. What is going on? Think cult activity. Think satanic doings. Think of Lucifer's need for a mouthpiece to the world known to certain individuals as the Messenger. It turns out a very special object of massive import to the underworld resides in the musty basement of the new branch post office, an object with the ability to turn the sane and rational into enraged, frothing at the mouth murderers capable of the most heinous of crimes. No one in Danelleton is safe from the minions

Dodd was working as a package sorter for a Florida post office when he received the package. The package that contained death. Shortly thereafter, Dodd, known to most as a friendly neighborhood postal worker, went on a vicious killing spree. Ten years later, similar events begin to occur in the quite and friendly neighborhood of Danelleton. Marlene, a well-known postal carrier, enters the post office and opens fire on all those inside, leaving no survivors, shortly after killing her husband and child. Carlton, yet another long-time postal service employee, leaves one day to deliver a package to a private girls Catholic school, only to slaughter and crucify a nun and several students. All of these crimes seem connected via a strange bell and star symbol left in blood at each crime scene. Are the people of Danelleton suffering from some strange psychosis, are they part of some satanic cult, or is there more going on than meets the eye? Jane Ryan, the Station Manager of the newly re-opened Danelleton West Branch Post Office, and her cohort and love interest police Chief Steve Higgins, are in a race against time to save themselves and the rest of the dainty town from the unwelcome visitor. A mysterious man named Dhevic has seen this all before, and he intends to do something about it. Whose side is he on, and what knowledge does he have of the occurrences? The Messenger has a message to deliver from Lucifer, and the inhabitants of Danelleton are his unknowing and unwilling servants. Using a force similar to possession, The Messenger infests the minds of those he chooses and convinces them to serve his purpose, which they do almost without fail. Edward Lee proves yet again that he is the undisputed master of the extreme horror novel. This novel, like his others, is sprinkled with gruesome depictions and vivid imagery, as is his trademark. Indeed, Lee leaves little to the imagination. Yet that is why we readers keep coming back for more! Though this novel is more sedate than some of his previous works, it should still delight the gore-hounds in addition to fans of more mellow horror. If you have read "City Infernal" and "Infernal Angel," you will already be familiar with many of the descriptions and creatures within various snippets throughout the book, as Lee clearly draws from his previously established visions of Hell. However, this particular book draws slightly less from such imagined imagery. Instead, "The Messenger" plays out more like a thriller novel with a supernatural or parapsychological twist. Of course, with Lee the twist is always a noteworthy one that is very worth the time and money, even if a bit predictable. I highly recommend this, and any of Lee's other incredible novels to those who have the stomach for them! This book, in its hardcover format, is limited to 450 signed and numbered copies, so pick yours up now!