CREEPERS
David Morrell
CDS Books
Suspense
ISBN-10: 1593153570
ISBN-13: 9781593153571

• Read a Review
• Read an Excerpt
• Author Interview -- November 4, 2005

On a cold October night, five people gather in a run-down motel on the Jersey shore and begin preparations to break into The Paragon Hotel. Built in the glory days of Asbury Park by a reclusive millionaire, the magnificent structure, which foreshadowed the beauties of Art Deco architecture, is now boarded-up and marked for demolition.

The five people are "creepers," the slang term for urban explorers: city archeologists with a passion for investigating abandoned buildings and their dying secrets. On this evening, they are joined by a reporter who wants to profile them - anonymously, as this is highly illegal activity - for a New York Times article.

Balenger, the sandy-haired, broad-shouldered reporter with a decided air of mystery about him, isn't looking for just a story, however. And after the group enters the rat-infested tunnel leading to the hotel, it becomes clear that he will get much more than he bargained for. Danger, terror, and death await the creepers in a place ravaged by time and redolent of evil.

CREEPERS, David Morrell's gripping joy-ride of a thriller, depicts every harrowing second in eight hours of relentless suspense. It will haunt readers for many nights to come.

ABOUT URBAN EXPLORATION


"Creepers" is the slang term for urban explorers: history and architecture enthusiasts who share a keen fascination with exploring abandoned buildings and tunnels. The Internet reveals hundreds of thousands of urban-explorer contacts throughout the world. But for every group that decides to publicize itself, there are many who don't – because urban exploration is illegal and so unsafe it can be deadly. Authorities impose serious jail terms and/or fines to discourage it. Creepers liken their adventures to the covert-ops military expression for invading hostile territory: infiltration. As www.infiltration.org indicates, the objective is "places you're not supposed to go".

CRITICAL PRAISE

"It's been years since I've read a thriller as good as CREEPERS. Crack this novel and it's like an alien abduction of your brain -- forget resuming your normal life until it's finished. CREEPERS has all the ingredients you'd expect from a David Morrell novel: characters with depth, a wickedly clever plot with more than a few twists, and scenes of action and suspense that will leave you breathless. What takes this novel to heights rarely achieved by even the greatest thrillers is its conception and setting: a group of 'creepers' -- urban spelunkers -- breaks into a long-abandoned, sealed-up hotel in a decaying seaside town for a night of exploration. But nothing is as it seems, and when the layers of deception are finally peeled away, the shock is close to unbearable. Mark my words: this will be a classic."

"Everything (David Morrell) writes has a you-are-there quality, and that, coupled with his ability to propel characters through a scene, makes reading him like attending a private screening."

—Washington Post Book World

"David Morrell is a master of suspense. He wields it like a stiletto - knows just where to stick it and how to turn it. If you're reading Morrell, you're sitting on the edge of your seat."

—Michael Connelly

"No one excels at writing actions scenes like Morrell."

—Library Journal

"Morrell, an absolute master of the thriller, plays by his own rules and leaves you dazzled."

—Dean Koontz

"The absolute master...the craftsman so many of us look to for guidance."

—Andrew Vachss

"Morrell stands head and shoulders above most of his contemporaries."

—National Review

"Riveting."

—Robert Ludlum

© Copyright 2005 by CDS Books, an imprint of Perseus Books.

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.

Back to top.