What Rough Beast
by Harry Squires
OUT OF PRINT
It's 1903. Harry Houdini, the great escape artist, seeks the help of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, to discredit Maximillian Cairo, an infamous occultist and the most debauched man in London. But the two men get more than they bargained for when they interrupt a magic ritual.
That night, they set something loose - something no one can face and stay sane. Something that runs amok, spreading death and madness throughout an unsuspecting Edwardian London.
Both men are tortured by self-doubt for the first time in their lives. Have their logical minds been tainted by this brush with frenzy?
Their sole hope to understand what is happening to them lies with the only witness to the first murder. But the man refuses to reveal what he's seen, even to save his life.
All Houdini's talents and all Conan Doyle's powers of deduction combined may not be enough to save them from what they have unleashed on the world.
Harry Squires' Bio
Harry Squires was born in Chicago, Illinois. Hospital records make no mention of any wise men arriving to witness the event. He attended journalism school at the University of Missouri and film school at U.C. L.A. He has worked in educational television and radio, the insurance industry, and software marketing. Eventually, he gave up trying to convince the people around him that he was normal, and dropped out to write horror stories and mysteries for a living. His philosophy of life can be boiled down to four rules: Never do business with anyone who uses the words "trust" or "honest;" Never eat at a restaurant with the word "gourmet" in the name; Never be the first to load new software or try a new drug. Some people see the glass as half full, some as half empty. Harry wonders what's in the glass, why it smells so funny, and who poured it. He currently lives by the beach in Southern California with Susan, his very tolerant wife, and several large, black dogs. The dogs, by the way, are not incarnations of demonic beings---no matter what the neighbors say.