Andersonville

Edward M. Erdelac. Random/Hydra, $5.99 e-book (272p) ISBN 978-0-553-39090-2

The very real horrors of Camp Sumter, Ga., during the Civil War are mined to great effect in Erdelac’s riveting tale of violent magic and supernatural entities. When black Union soldier Barclay Lourdes arrives at the prisoner-of-war camp, which is attached to the town of Andersonville, he’s not quite ready for the overcrowded hell that greets him once he steps inside the gates. Conditions are deplorable, starvation and disease run rampant, and though the treatment of white soldiers is bad, what black soldiers must endure is far worse. Barclay soon suspects that demonic forces are at play. An ancient evil fueled by the blood of the wretched is preparing to unleash its wrath upon humankind, and Barclay and Lt. Quitman Day—a man he’s vowed to destroy—may be the only ones who can stop it. Erdelac (the Merkabah Rider series) makes a heady brew out of dreadful true events, angel and demon lore, secret societies, and the trappings of Southern gothic novels. This is thoughtful horror at its best, and not at all for the faint of heart. (Aug.)