About the Book

Richard, a millionaire who is the epitome of male beauty, is the host to a gathering of carefully selected friends for the purpose of a bizarre confrontation—unknown to them. These odd guests arrive from all corners of the globe by helicopter and speedboat and discover that they are strangely bound together by hate or love or an evil fascination.

Among the guests are Richard’s two former wives, his present wife, and the witchlike Malissa, who holds sway over a curious entourage that includes the perfectly formed midget Topaze; Rev, a hood whose body is covered with weird tattoos; and the mysterious, veiled Duquesa. Also among the guests are Blue, a male prostitute who might be a murderer, the radiantly beautiful Savannah, and the sadistic superstar of underground films, Bravo. Running through the suave manipulations of Richard and the hysterical directives of Malissa is a fierce struggle for power, in which a young priest and Mark, Richard’s precociously sinister son, are catalysts. In the guise of a search for truth, the invited guests are by turns victims and victimizers during a ritual ceremony of evil.

Utilizing the techniques of the film—close-ups, long-shots, and sudden shifts of scene, garish flashes of colors—John Rechy blends the supernatural ingredients, violent sexuality and depraved rites with the lush beauty of a sea island to create a world whose superficial beauty conceals dark and violent forces close beneath its surface.