Finished early on the morning, in bed- Fr 3/9/18.
I read this slim novel as an ebook from the library. When I first tried to check out the book, I got an error message from the library saying that they had reached the limit for loaning ebooks and I had to wait until midnight. Odd that I was asked to wait until midnight to check out this horror/ thriller. The next day, it downloaded with ease.
The author, Jeffrey Konvitz, was an entertainment lawyer who also writes fiction. He wrote the book and produced the film; 100 million!
This is the classic 'beach or airport' read....trash, but really, relly good trash.
An interesting structure because the real meaning and purpose of the action is not revealed until the very end. The NYC brownstone is really the portal to Hell and 'the sentinel' is the human who has been chosen to keep the angels of Lucifer from the earthly plane of existence.
Alison Parker is the protagonist. She's a model with a history of mental instability and has attempted suicide.
Michael Farmer is her lawyer boyfriend. He is the villan, but for almost the entire book is seems to be a hero. He has killed his former wife and staged it to look like a suicide. He hired a detective Brenner to perform the act and he did this so that he could realize his inheritance from his rich wife and be with Alison.
The birthday party for Jezebel the cat is great in the book, but it's one of my favorite scene in movies. Burgess Meridith is unbelievably creepy and evil.
Plot summary from wikipedia-
"Alison Parker, a beautiful but troubled fashion model moves into a gorgeous New York City brownstone house that is divided into apartments. The house is inhabited on the top floor by Father Francis Matthew Halloran, a reclusive blind Catholic priest who spends his time sitting at his open window.
Alison is romantically involved with Michael Farmer, a lawyer and former prosecutor. Alison's life is beset for a number of reasons. She had a horrible relationship with her recently deceased father, and survived at least one suicide attempt. Michael is under suspicion in the death of his former wife. A determined New York City Police Department detective named Gatz is sure that Michael murdered her, and soon comes to suspect Alison as well.
Alison suffers sleep loss and horrible nightmares involving her father, and soon begins to suffer blinding headaches.
Looking for distraction, she tries to ingratiate herself with the building's other occupants - but finds that they are bizarrely eccentric and obnoxious. Alison complains about them to the building's real estate agent. The agent is confused, telling a shocked Alison that there were no neighbours - besides for herself and Fr. Halloran, no one else lives there.
Looking for answers, Michael breaks into a records archive of the Catholic Church. Researching the past of Fr. Halloran, Michael learns that the man has none. Rather Halloran's life "began" the day that another man's life apparently ended, leading Michael to believe that the two men are one and the same. He also finds similar records for a woman, a nun named Sister Therese who is to reside in Alison's building. Michael soon concludes that Sister Therese is actually the woman that Alison is meant to become.
Rushing to her building, he confronts the blind priest, only to be killed. Returning to the building, her headaches returned and her skin beginning to desiccate, Alison finds Michael seemingly unhurt. He reveals that he is actually dead and also damned for killing his wife. He also explains that the house is actually positioned over the gateway between our world and Hell and that there must be gatekeeper to protect the world from the denizens of the underworld. Until now, that gatekeeper, or sentinel, had been Father Halloran, but Alison is now expected to succeed him. Her troubled past, especially her suicide attempt, make her the appropriate choice. The inhabitants of Hell are actually her fellow "neighbours", and they know that they have one chance to escape the abyss - pressuring Alison to complete her suicide. At the last minute, Father Halloran appears and saves Alison, driving the "neighbours" back to hell.
The book ends with Alison becoming the new sentinel."
I own this book and I think that I also have the sequel, THE GUARDIAN.
68 West 89th St is the address of the brownstone
17 East 71st St. is Michael's apartment
Checking these locations at Google Maps, and they are perfect- even today.
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