Flicker: A Novel [Paperback]

From the golden age of art movies and underground cinema to X-rated porn, splatter films, and midnight movies, this breathtaking thriller is a tour de force of cinematic fact and fantasy, full of metaphysical mysteries that will haunt the dreams of every moviegoer. Jonathan Gates could not have anticipated that his student studies would lead him to uncover the secret history of the movies—a tale of intrigue, deception, and death that stretches back to the 14th century. But he succumbs to what will be a lifelong obsession with the mysterious Max Castle, a nearly forgotten genius of the silent screen who later became the greatest director of horror films, only to vanish in the 1940s, at the height of his talent. Now, 20 years later, as Jonathan seeks the truth behind Castle's disappearance, the innocent entertainments of his youth—the sexy sirens, the screwball comedies, the high romance—take on a sinister appearance. His tortured quest takes him from Hollywood's Poverty Row into the shadowy lore of ancient religious heresies. He encounters a cast of exotic characters, including Orson Welles and John Huston, who teach him that there's more to film than meets the eye, and journeys through the dark side of nostalgia, where the Three Stooges and Shirley Temple join company with an alien god whose purposes are anything but entertainment.

An irresistible book . . . the perfect film buff's novel. —Booklist

Huge, deep-delving movie-lover's delight—and as rich a novel about the metaphysics of moviemaking as has ever been. —Kirkus Reviews

A novel of great force and originality, nearly every page of which crackles with lust for film. —USA Today

Tantalizing...scary as a Stephen King novel...has the power to fill even the most casual filmgoer with an awful, creeping dread.   —Bret Easton Ellis, author,American PsychoandLess thalS4