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The Maenad's God
A seamless blend of thriller, dark satire, magical realism, romance, and myth, The Maenad's God is the story of a war that's been fought for thousands of years; the war between the ancient arts of music, poetry, and love; and the equally ancient forces of artistic envy, oppressive law, and authoritarian religion.
"Consider this a kind of prayer to the heartless void, for I am now in joyless communion with a dead god."
Peter C. Morrow, former Special Agent
Boston Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Date: Eternity
Alienation. Myth. Music. Law. Madness. Death. Divinity.
Boston 1992. Pete Morrow is an alienated FBI agent whose only escape from the colleagues and society he despises is through reading literary classics. When his boss sends him to warn away a drug dealer on an obscure army base, he discovers a murder and becomes obsessed with Jade McClellan, a mysterious man from Toronto whose rock band just performed at the crime scene. Tough-guy Morrow has never been in love before-but Jade is almost magical, an embodiment of myth and literature who creates living fantasies that rapidly become the only thing Morrow values in his otherwise miserable life.
But there's a problem. Morrow is investigating a mafia family that is investing in Jade's musical career. Being open about their relationship could get both of them killed.
Morrow's murder investigation annihilates his hard-boiled understanding of reality when he learns that Jade is an abandoned, mortal son of Dionysus, the god whose energy informs hard rock. Jade's mafia support is being arranged by Dirty Penny Starmaker, a witch who started life in 5th century BCE Athens, where she received a divine mandate to promote brilliant musicians throughout history. Penny is in a centuries-old war with Hugh McCrae, a primeval, human-like "monster" who has currently incarnated himself as a congressional aide with an unhealthy interest Morrow's work. McCrae (rhymes with "decay") carries his own divine mandate to promote cultural decline by eradicating creativity and art. At the present time, this includes Jade, his music, and Morrow's newfound happiness.
After all, the universe must balance, no matter who gets destroyed in the process.
"Consider this a kind of prayer to the heartless void, for I am now in joyless communion with a dead god."
Peter C. Morrow, former Special Agent
Boston Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Date: Eternity
Alienation. Myth. Music. Law. Madness. Death. Divinity.
Boston 1992. Pete Morrow is an alienated FBI agent whose only escape from the colleagues and society he despises is through reading literary classics. When his boss sends him to warn away a drug dealer on an obscure army base, he discovers a murder and becomes obsessed with Jade McClellan, a mysterious man from Toronto whose rock band just performed at the crime scene. Tough-guy Morrow has never been in love before-but Jade is almost magical, an embodiment of myth and literature who creates living fantasies that rapidly become the only thing Morrow values in his otherwise miserable life.
But there's a problem. Morrow is investigating a mafia family that is investing in Jade's musical career. Being open about their relationship could get both of them killed.
Morrow's murder investigation annihilates his hard-boiled understanding of reality when he learns that Jade is an abandoned, mortal son of Dionysus, the god whose energy informs hard rock. Jade's mafia support is being arranged by Dirty Penny Starmaker, a witch who started life in 5th century BCE Athens, where she received a divine mandate to promote brilliant musicians throughout history. Penny is in a centuries-old war with Hugh McCrae, a primeval, human-like "monster" who has currently incarnated himself as a congressional aide with an unhealthy interest Morrow's work. McCrae (rhymes with "decay") carries his own divine mandate to promote cultural decline by eradicating creativity and art. At the present time, this includes Jade, his music, and Morrow's newfound happiness.
After all, the universe must balance, no matter who gets destroyed in the process.
432 pages, Paperback
First published November 4, 2022
3 people are currently reading
1178 people want to read
About the author
Karen Michalson
7 books53 followersKaren Michalson has taught nineteenth-century British literature and practiced criminal law. Defending the canon, defending the accused. You say there's a difference?
She’s also written four novels, most recently The Maenad’s God, which was selected by Independent Book Review as one of the best novels of 2022. Her earlier novels: Enemy Glory, Hecate's Glory, and The King's Glory; form the Enemy Glory trilogy. Enemy Glory was one of the books that received the most votes for the Locus Award for Best First Novel, and was chosen for Locus‘s Recommended Reading List of Best First Novels.
Her first book, Victorian Fantasy Literature: Literary Battles with Church and Empire, examines the non-literary and non-aesthetic reasons underlying the bias in favor of realism in the formation of the traditional literary canon of nineteenth-century British fiction.
Somewhere between literature and law, she learned bass guitar, formed a rock band, Point of Ares, and toured the USA. Point Of Ares released four concept albums, two of which are based on her Enemy Glory books.
She keeps a blog called Matter Notes, where she writes about the war on the humanities, creativity as spirituality, and her observations on culture and society as a self-described New England recluse: http://www.karenmichalson.com/blog
She’s also written four novels, most recently The Maenad’s God, which was selected by Independent Book Review as one of the best novels of 2022. Her earlier novels: Enemy Glory, Hecate's Glory, and The King's Glory; form the Enemy Glory trilogy. Enemy Glory was one of the books that received the most votes for the Locus Award for Best First Novel, and was chosen for Locus‘s Recommended Reading List of Best First Novels.
Her first book, Victorian Fantasy Literature: Literary Battles with Church and Empire, examines the non-literary and non-aesthetic reasons underlying the bias in favor of realism in the formation of the traditional literary canon of nineteenth-century British fiction.
Somewhere between literature and law, she learned bass guitar, formed a rock band, Point of Ares, and toured the USA. Point Of Ares released four concept albums, two of which are based on her Enemy Glory books.
She keeps a blog called Matter Notes, where she writes about the war on the humanities, creativity as spirituality, and her observations on culture and society as a self-described New England recluse: http://www.karenmichalson.com/blog
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April 28, 2023Nothing is as it seems in Karen Michalson's THE MAENAD'S GOD, a 90’s grunge-era novel that's full of satire, noir, fantasy and romance elements.
Read the full review on Booktrib.com
Read the full review on Booktrib.com
January 4, 2023
I did not in fact finish this book. The writing was pretty rough and hard to understand in many places. I’m kind of disappointed because the book sounded really interesting but I had to go back and reread things often to get what it meant.
October 25, 2023
A Phenomenal Magnum Opus
Do eternal spiritual entities exist among us? Can there be life and love and esoteric knowledge without the mediums of both human and supernatural reasoning and actions? Are ancient truths all fictions? Well, Karen Michalson, in her penning of The Maenad’s God, answers all of these questions and more.
There are dangers in reading a novel of this calibre, in that, it takes the reader to places both unfamiliar and recalcitrant. The literary structure of this work, rather than being linear, meaning arranged from pole to pole, is instead harmoniously circular, gracefully moving the reader back and forth through the realms of ancient mysticism and mythology, spiritualism, poetry, music, realism, idealism, and sensualism. The most fitting context for The Maenad’s God is a mythological one: that myth being, Dionysus, the maenad’s god. In Greek mythology, maenads were female followers of Dionysus, the god of fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre, and also known as "the liberator," a being capable of freeing his followers from self-conscious fears and cares by subversion of the oppressive restraints of the powerful.
The Maenad’s God is a mystery first and foremost, a whodunit, whose first-person complex plot is driven by FBI Special Agent, Peter C. Morrow, a man tasked to discover the perpetrator of a gruesome, bizarre military base murder that’s rumoured to be associated with the drug culture, religious fanaticism, and the mob. But very soon into this classical detective story the reader all of a sudden discovers that it’s not so much a whodunit, but a complex crime puzzle, told in a double narrative style where the one narrative is quickly revealed, while the other remains deeply hidden in the sands of abstruse time. Set in the early 1990s, a culturally imagined decade of peace, prosperity, new media, and alternative music movements like hardcore drum and bass rock, the story takes the reader on a literary ride from New England, most specifically Boston, Massachusetts, into the largest city in Canada, Toronto, Ontario, where Agent Morrow meets his modern-day maenads and his erotic Dionysus, a beautiful musician named Jade. While dealing with the duplicity and hypocrisy of his day-to-day FBI world, tough-guy loner, Pete Morrow, in his investigation of this arcane murder, finds himself embarking upon a personal odyssey of self-examination and exploration, forcefully pushing himself through his long-held cynicisms about humanity––about those only motivated by undue ambition, meaningless desires, and political gratification––and into a deeper understanding of his emotional and sensual triggers and repressed beliefs.
To say anything more about this novel would be to reveal its recondite secrets. It is an epic story that will, in its essence, equally enchant and disturb the reader. It is well-researched with scenes and locations steeped in reality, and Michalson’s development and handling of the characters is not only forceful, but complete. The action is both poetic and violent, as are the deaths. Karen Michalson does not skimp on deep-rooted emotionalism. This work is rewardingly substantive, and its effect, at least to this reader, was overpowering. Simply put, The Maenad’s God is a masterful example of original storytelling. Five stars to Karen Michalson for this phenomenal literary creation.
Do eternal spiritual entities exist among us? Can there be life and love and esoteric knowledge without the mediums of both human and supernatural reasoning and actions? Are ancient truths all fictions? Well, Karen Michalson, in her penning of The Maenad’s God, answers all of these questions and more.
There are dangers in reading a novel of this calibre, in that, it takes the reader to places both unfamiliar and recalcitrant. The literary structure of this work, rather than being linear, meaning arranged from pole to pole, is instead harmoniously circular, gracefully moving the reader back and forth through the realms of ancient mysticism and mythology, spiritualism, poetry, music, realism, idealism, and sensualism. The most fitting context for The Maenad’s God is a mythological one: that myth being, Dionysus, the maenad’s god. In Greek mythology, maenads were female followers of Dionysus, the god of fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre, and also known as "the liberator," a being capable of freeing his followers from self-conscious fears and cares by subversion of the oppressive restraints of the powerful.
The Maenad’s God is a mystery first and foremost, a whodunit, whose first-person complex plot is driven by FBI Special Agent, Peter C. Morrow, a man tasked to discover the perpetrator of a gruesome, bizarre military base murder that’s rumoured to be associated with the drug culture, religious fanaticism, and the mob. But very soon into this classical detective story the reader all of a sudden discovers that it’s not so much a whodunit, but a complex crime puzzle, told in a double narrative style where the one narrative is quickly revealed, while the other remains deeply hidden in the sands of abstruse time. Set in the early 1990s, a culturally imagined decade of peace, prosperity, new media, and alternative music movements like hardcore drum and bass rock, the story takes the reader on a literary ride from New England, most specifically Boston, Massachusetts, into the largest city in Canada, Toronto, Ontario, where Agent Morrow meets his modern-day maenads and his erotic Dionysus, a beautiful musician named Jade. While dealing with the duplicity and hypocrisy of his day-to-day FBI world, tough-guy loner, Pete Morrow, in his investigation of this arcane murder, finds himself embarking upon a personal odyssey of self-examination and exploration, forcefully pushing himself through his long-held cynicisms about humanity––about those only motivated by undue ambition, meaningless desires, and political gratification––and into a deeper understanding of his emotional and sensual triggers and repressed beliefs.
To say anything more about this novel would be to reveal its recondite secrets. It is an epic story that will, in its essence, equally enchant and disturb the reader. It is well-researched with scenes and locations steeped in reality, and Michalson’s development and handling of the characters is not only forceful, but complete. The action is both poetic and violent, as are the deaths. Karen Michalson does not skimp on deep-rooted emotionalism. This work is rewardingly substantive, and its effect, at least to this reader, was overpowering. Simply put, The Maenad’s God is a masterful example of original storytelling. Five stars to Karen Michalson for this phenomenal literary creation.
April 12, 2024
The Maenad's God is a little bit literary, a little bit thriller, a little bit fantasy, a little bit romance, and, by the end, somewhat tragic as well. But to call it a mishmash of genres doesn't feel accurate--what I loved about this book is that it does feel very certain and grounded in exactly what it is.
A lot of that definition and a lot of the book's power come from the narrator, Pete Morrow. Cynical and sarcastic, Pete can be a lot of fun to read along with, and at times also frustrating and not entirely relatable or reliable. He's an FBI agent, depressed by his job and both the darkness and the banality (and the banal evil) he's seen in the world, longing for poetry and beauty to lighten his life.
Enter Jade.
Jade is a rock singer, band leader, storyteller, and the perfect person for Pete to fixate on. The two fall in love fast and obsessive; Pete is already figuring out how to cover up Jade's crimes (and why it's okay for him to do so, even right) when the two of them have barely met. And he's already dreaming of Jade and longing to see him again.
Jade and Pete's relationship is the center of the book, but not the majority of the page time. There is a lot else going on! First of all, there's Jade's band and family, a crew of interesting characters, each out to pose their own conflicts--jealousy broiling, both artistic (from some fellow band members) and romantic (from some of Jade's fans), as well as Jade's criminal connections posing problems. Then, there's Pete's coworkers at the FBI--Crensch, a daydreamer who wants to find his own life of adventure as a hero with the FBI; Fearless, Pete's boss who just wants to please the higher ups and not offend any politicians; Sayno, a group of coworkers focused on eliminating drugs but also (and perhaps mostly) just focused on promoting conservative ideology and their own reputation.
That's without even going into the magic, which is certainly a major plot element, but a light touch. There are gods and witches about in the book, and one man who just can't seem to stay dead. Magic which at first surrounds Jade becomes entrenched in Pete's life as well, and a force both for good and evil.
I loved this book! It was very intense and slow building at the same time. I will give a few content warnings if you don't mind spoilers, for . It's not a grimdark read, but it's certainly not a light read either! That said, I think it likely I will read it again, and pick up more books by Karen Michalson :D
A lot of that definition and a lot of the book's power come from the narrator, Pete Morrow. Cynical and sarcastic, Pete can be a lot of fun to read along with, and at times also frustrating and not entirely relatable or reliable. He's an FBI agent, depressed by his job and both the darkness and the banality (and the banal evil) he's seen in the world, longing for poetry and beauty to lighten his life.
Enter Jade.
Jade is a rock singer, band leader, storyteller, and the perfect person for Pete to fixate on. The two fall in love fast and obsessive; Pete is already figuring out how to cover up Jade's crimes (and why it's okay for him to do so, even right) when the two of them have barely met. And he's already dreaming of Jade and longing to see him again.
Jade and Pete's relationship is the center of the book, but not the majority of the page time. There is a lot else going on! First of all, there's Jade's band and family, a crew of interesting characters, each out to pose their own conflicts--jealousy broiling, both artistic (from some fellow band members) and romantic (from some of Jade's fans), as well as Jade's criminal connections posing problems. Then, there's Pete's coworkers at the FBI--Crensch, a daydreamer who wants to find his own life of adventure as a hero with the FBI; Fearless, Pete's boss who just wants to please the higher ups and not offend any politicians; Sayno, a group of coworkers focused on eliminating drugs but also (and perhaps mostly) just focused on promoting conservative ideology and their own reputation.
That's without even going into the magic, which is certainly a major plot element, but a light touch. There are gods and witches about in the book, and one man who just can't seem to stay dead. Magic which at first surrounds Jade becomes entrenched in Pete's life as well, and a force both for good and evil.
I loved this book! It was very intense and slow building at the same time. I will give a few content warnings if you don't mind spoilers, for . It's not a grimdark read, but it's certainly not a light read either! That said, I think it likely I will read it again, and pick up more books by Karen Michalson :D
April 15, 2024
Special Agent, Pete Morrow, a disgruntled and alienated FBI agent whose only joy comes from reading literary classics, leans back luxuriously in his dangerously, unstable swivel chair. As he contemplates the loveliness of his pale green cinder block office with its fresh sprinkling of asbestos dust, he decides that it's best to try and breathe as slowly as he can without passing out! At least it’s preferable to report writing, or dying of asbestosis before boredom gets him first. Such is the devilishly exciting life that awaits Pete with monotonous regularity until he discovers Jade McClellan and his rock band.
When the boss packs Morrow off to an obscure army base near Rome, New York, to deal with a drug dealer, he stumbles upon a macabre murder and is introduced to Jade whose rock band just performed a gig on the base. In this engaging and credible synergy of supernatural and fantastical elements, Karen Michalson expertly weaves an epic tale that will resonate with her readers.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘥’𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘥 is a seamless blend of myth, humour, magic and realism with a hefty dollop of dark satire and romance. The living fantasies created by Jade, an embodiment of myth and literature, become the only thing of value to Special Agent Pete Morrow in his search for the murderer. This psychological thriller with a bunch of quirky characters will entertain readers and keep you invested until the last page as the ongoing war, fought for thousands of years between the ancient arts, continues to rage and threaten the universe's balance. I have no hesitation in awarding 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘥’𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘥 by Karen Michalson, 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬.
When the boss packs Morrow off to an obscure army base near Rome, New York, to deal with a drug dealer, he stumbles upon a macabre murder and is introduced to Jade whose rock band just performed a gig on the base. In this engaging and credible synergy of supernatural and fantastical elements, Karen Michalson expertly weaves an epic tale that will resonate with her readers.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘥’𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘥 is a seamless blend of myth, humour, magic and realism with a hefty dollop of dark satire and romance. The living fantasies created by Jade, an embodiment of myth and literature, become the only thing of value to Special Agent Pete Morrow in his search for the murderer. This psychological thriller with a bunch of quirky characters will entertain readers and keep you invested until the last page as the ongoing war, fought for thousands of years between the ancient arts, continues to rage and threaten the universe's balance. I have no hesitation in awarding 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘥’𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘥 by Karen Michalson, 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬.
June 12, 2024
Ver complex plot, with twists and turns that are both expected and unexpected. When reading this, you’ll have to pay close attention to the storyline as if you miss even a bit of the story, it can become confusing.
I would highly recommend this book to those who love that type of book. I gave it a four because how complex the plot was. Personally, I’m not a fan of the heavy storyline, but the characters were extremely interesting to read as well as the situation that was in hand, which was both character-centric and the overall plot.
A mix of fantasy and modern(ish - it was taken place in the 1990s), and having a complex plot, I would recommend to those who love that stuff. I’m not really a fan of complex stories, but this book was enjoyable to read, so I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.
I would highly recommend this book to those who love that type of book. I gave it a four because how complex the plot was. Personally, I’m not a fan of the heavy storyline, but the characters were extremely interesting to read as well as the situation that was in hand, which was both character-centric and the overall plot.
A mix of fantasy and modern(ish - it was taken place in the 1990s), and having a complex plot, I would recommend to those who love that stuff. I’m not really a fan of complex stories, but this book was enjoyable to read, so I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.
January 2, 2023
Book is different but enjoyable
The story revolves around Peter Morrow, an FBI agent. Peter is sent to an army base, near Rome, New York. Peter is sent there to investigate a army private who is selling drugs on the base. He meets a rock and roll band that is playing a gig on the base. While Peter is there the base commander is murdered.
The strength of the book is the main character of Peter. He is interesting. Most of the secondary characters are written well. The weakness of the book is the fantasy life that is interwoven through the book.
The story revolves around Peter Morrow, an FBI agent. Peter is sent to an army base, near Rome, New York. Peter is sent there to investigate a army private who is selling drugs on the base. He meets a rock and roll band that is playing a gig on the base. While Peter is there the base commander is murdered.
The strength of the book is the main character of Peter. He is interesting. Most of the secondary characters are written well. The weakness of the book is the fantasy life that is interwoven through the book.
November 20, 2023
The Maenad's God unfolds like an epic poem -- its narrative as grey and edgy as the streets of Boston. It's easy to suspend disbelief with strong characters, an engaging plot and a compelling story. Not every storyteller can wear the poet's mantle, but Karen Michalson, effortlessly blends narrative content with the rhythmic and aesthetic essence of poetry. Tricky. She offers a novel lens on the known and unknown, intertwining the artistry of poetry with the tapestry of existence, executed with remarkable finesse!
January 12, 2023
Good book
March 1, 2023
I liked the premise of this book but ended up not finishing because I found this book quite confusing.
April 14, 2023
Who would have thought back in the day, that the 1990s (time of this reviewer’s adolescence) would one day furnish an historical setting for fiction! Yet in this powerful novel, The Maenad’s God,by Karen Michalson (The Enemy Glory trilogy) this is what they feel like – historical not by intention necessarily but by the near-obsolescence of their accessories: tape recorders, VCRs, cassettes, CDs and the like. It is sad and strange to consider that these things, today on their way to the museum if not already there, were once active and useful.
This historical urban fantasy, then, takes one back to distant 1992 and introduces maverick “fed” Peter Morrow, a lit graduate feeling, typically for a sleuth since time immemorial, as misplaced in his work, as a ballerina in a pachyderms’ wallow. While pursuing a drug-trafficking tip on an army base, Morrow chances upon a grotesque, mysterious murder and runs into the up-and-coming Black Dog who “just happened to be the greatest rock and roll band in the universe.” (108)
The ensuing story moves along three lines one is tempted to respectively term political, personal, and metaphysical or allegorical. First is the murder investigation, replete with diversions and complications, and featuring an entertaining satire of social phenomena like corruption, nepotism, bureaucracy, fundamentalism, media sensationalism and so on. Then one has the desperate love affair between Morrow and Jade McClellan, a (literal) demigod and the band’s frontman. Finally, there is an underground war between a warlock, McCrae, and a not too malevolent sorceress, Penny – a war, the novel claims, of eternal principles.
[Please read the entire review at https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/the...]
This historical urban fantasy, then, takes one back to distant 1992 and introduces maverick “fed” Peter Morrow, a lit graduate feeling, typically for a sleuth since time immemorial, as misplaced in his work, as a ballerina in a pachyderms’ wallow. While pursuing a drug-trafficking tip on an army base, Morrow chances upon a grotesque, mysterious murder and runs into the up-and-coming Black Dog who “just happened to be the greatest rock and roll band in the universe.” (108)
The ensuing story moves along three lines one is tempted to respectively term political, personal, and metaphysical or allegorical. First is the murder investigation, replete with diversions and complications, and featuring an entertaining satire of social phenomena like corruption, nepotism, bureaucracy, fundamentalism, media sensationalism and so on. Then one has the desperate love affair between Morrow and Jade McClellan, a (literal) demigod and the band’s frontman. Finally, there is an underground war between a warlock, McCrae, and a not too malevolent sorceress, Penny – a war, the novel claims, of eternal principles.
[Please read the entire review at https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/the...]
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews