THE DEVIL’S ALPHABET

Engaging sophomore effort from the author of Pandemonium (2008) paints a highly original portrait of a town irrevocably changed by a bizarre disease.

After a long absence, Pax Martin returns to Switchcreek, Tenn., for the funeral of his old friend Jo Lynn, with whom he had a complicated history. But Switchcreek is no ordinary town, because of the Changes, a strange plague that hit 13 years ago. The mysterious outbreak didn’t spread beyond the town’s borders, but it killed a fourth of the population and transformed most of the rest into grotesque mutants: “the giant argos, the seal-skinned betas, the fat charlies.” Pax, one of the lucky few who survived unscathed, left Switchcreek, he thought for good. Now he sees how the town has transformed, and eventually he discovers that Jo Lynn’s suicide isn’t what it appears. Then comes the horrible discovery that the Changes have hit another city, this time in Ecuador. The plot sometimes meanders, but the talented author has a wonderful eye for detail, and his descriptions of how the horrific mutations have affected every aspect of small-town life are both compelling and creepy.

Evokes the best of Stephen King: Gregory is a writer to watch.