Companion

In contemporary Los Angeles, the hottest new fad is a bizarre, WXXX radio broadcast called "Death City" about Hollywood-related deaths. The shows achieved "cult" status in Southern California, and so has its cynically chic host, David Calvert, who lives on a luxurious beach estate in Malibu. But Calvert isn’t alone. He has a powerful associate – what's known as a "familiar" or demon companion. The creature, known as Verin, has given Calvert wealth and fame, but it's also destroying him with drugs, sexual violence, and murder. Ironically, the only person willing to help Calvert is his suicidal sister, Seton Boullan, who travels to L.A. to confront an evil that she never knew existed.

About the Author

William Baer is graduate of Rutgers, N.Y.U., the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, and USC's School of Cinema, where he received the Jack Nicholson Screenwriting Award. He is the author of twenty-two books including, most recently, the mystery novel, New Jersey Noir, and two collections of short stories, Times Square and Other Stories and One-and-Twenty Tales. Other books include Classic American Films (Praeger), Luís de Camões(University of Chicago Press), and The Unfortunates (recipient of the T.S. Eliot Award). He's been the recipient of a Fulbright (Portugal), a Guggenheim fellowship, and an N.E.A. creative writing grant for fiction.

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