Mantids

by Ron Dakron

Mantids is an update on the world's oldest novel--Petronius's Satyricon--with a twist. In Satyricon, the hero can't get an erection; in Mantids, the narrator can't get rid of one. Combine his Viagra overdose with an invasion by mutant female praying mantises and a suzzed-out, speed-tweaker Astoria, Oregon locale; add biting comedy and a warrior heroine and stir into a B-movie plot stew and you have a classic Dakron novel, chock full of sardonic prose and more fun than a barrel of junkies.

134 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2008

About the author

Ron Dakron is a poet and novelist.

He is the author of six novels — Tricky (his latest), Hello Devilfish!, infra, Newt, Hammers and Mantids, and two collections of poetry. His work runs the gamut from surrealism to sci-fi pastiche.

Publishers Weekly reviews Hello Devilfish!: "Resistance may be futile, but this book at least makes it fun" and named him "a writer with a fine ear and plenty of gusto."

Library Journal lauds Hello Devilfish! as "an audacious, laugh-out-loud novel that is brilliantly committed to its conceit."

Kirkus Reviews called Hammers "cartilaginous prose, soft as fishbone, sense-bending and scattershot as a Robin Williams shtick."

Point No Point magazine tagged Hammers as "a cross between jive bullshit, hip-hop Henny Youngman, and full-tilt Rimbaudian street-smartass sublimity."

Raven Chronicles judged him "as sinister as a thirteen-year-old with a lighter and a keg of butane."