by Lloyd Poast

Jonathan Carroll is about to release his newest book, Bathing the Lion (St. Martin’s Press), in North America on October 21st. The novel, about five people who live in the same New England town that have the same dream one night and discover they are “mechanics” whose job it is to keep order in the universe, is more of the surreal pop candy the author has become known for.

Carroll began taking readers on his flights of fantasy in 1980 with arguably his strongest work, The Land of Laughs, and continued with a string of highly imaginative, but not always commercially successful novels, such as The Wooden Sea, White Apples, and Sleeping in Flame. His books are truly unique and can best be described as Salvador Dali paintings melted onto the pages of seemingly normal stories where everything is not quite as it appears. He is a master at slowly building everyday situations into something utterly bizarre. The contemporary fantasy author’s works are also extremely addictive and those discovering his writing for the first time will want to scour eBay and local bookstores for everything he’s done.

Bathing the Lion is already garnering praise in the advance reviews and is sure to please any reader brave enough to believe in magic and follow Alice down into the rabbit hole. Just be prepared to make a stop in the Twilight Zone along the way.