Part way through the early section of Brian Hodge's novel Nightlife, I get an idea in my head and I can't shake it and it impacts the way I read the rest of the book: specifically that it's "Bright Lights, Big City" meets "Scarface" meets "Altered States".
It isn't really, and there's a South American native warrior in the mix. The yuppie is a former ad-man who has left the Mid-West because of his cocaine problems. Coming to Tampa, he encounters the local friendly drug lord who's giving out a sample of a new exotic product straight out of the jungles of South America, Venezuelan marching powder, called skullflush. This powder is sacred to the people of the native warrior, who's there to reclaim it with whatever body count it takes to do so. Skullflush allows the user to get in touch with their inner essence, transforming them into beasts- alligator people, big cats, wolfgirls and most magnificently, a Were-Piranha.
Yes, seriously, a Were-Piranha. Who sleeps IN, not on, a water bed.
It's glorious.
Read enough Horror or Weird Fiction, and you sort of become jaded. There wasn't any horror here for me- just a strange delight at how progressively complicated the character's lives become.
Which ends up being pretty fucking complicated.
Because Were-Piranha.
Oiginal publication date: March 1991
Availability: There's a German version from 2004, but other than that, the hard copy is out of print. Used copies are available on the secondary market. An e-book edition is available from Crossroads Press, for $3.99.
Cover image snagged from Brian Hodge's website, linked to above.
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