PUNK'D

by Larry Rochelle

PUNK’D Music plays a big part in Larry Rochelle’s writing. He sometimes plays one song over and over as he types his The Doobies, The Eagles, Benny Goodman and Tanya Tucker have all been background music for his intense Palmer Morel thrillers. For his sixteenth Palmer Morel novel, he stumbled upon a classical violin piece by Treme actress, Lucia Micarelli. The sound is full of romantic gloom and is entitled “Oblivion.” And PUNK’D might be seen as an introduction to oblivion itself. The scenes Rochelle uses are both imaginative and spooky. The Pussy Cat Lounge is a strip club in Durham. The Big Hole is a former cold war location used for secret communications in Pittsboro. Elmo’s is an often raucous greasy spoon in Carrboro near the University of North Carolina campus. Café Diem is a small, punkish, Goth coffee house in Pittsboro. The home base for most of the novel’s action takes place in an unusual community called Deerington Village. Here each condo is dedicated to a different rock singer, and on the top of Palmer Morel’s home is a huge statue of Elvis Presley dressed up in green and gold. It lights up at night. And need we mention that PUNK’D includes a certain quantity of murder, sex and depravity to keep the reader wondering if tennis pro Palmer Morel will be able to survive the mayhem.

274 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 19, 2014