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WhoooDoo Mysteries
Horror/Thriller
A Division of
Not Always St. Jerome
by Jerome Lucido
Jerome LaRocca is a middle-aged, happily married advertising guy with a breezy personality, who begins to experience disturbing flashbacks related to his life from the time he was five years old. The flashbacks are filled with a lot he remembers about his past, as well as some brutal events and actions he does not remember or believe he could have done.  LaRocca seeks out a psychologist friend for advice and assistance.  The psychologist believes Jerome is experiencing classic dissociate disorder syndrome, a splitting into other personalities, and tries to help him from that perspective. 

Because the flashbacks are so bizarre, LaRocca believes he is being manipulated, for some unknown reason, by forces from the real “Dark Side.”  He pursues that idea with a high school friend and expert on everything demonic.  After twenty-eight years of not seeing or speaking to him, she calls LaRocca on the day of an especially terrifying flashback because she sensed something terrible going on in his life. 

The three of them—LaRocca, his psychologist friend, and the high school associate—become ensnared in a bizarre investigation that culminates in their horrific life and death confrontation with the angel of the bottomless pit, and King of the mutant creatures that emerge from that pit.

ISBN; 1-93269542-7
Rated: R
REVIEWS
A Review of Not Always St. Jerome

By Linda Brownback, M.A.

     Licensed Psychologist


           I like this book—a lot!  One, it is a fascinating study of human character and how it can be enriched by one’s spirituality.  Two, it combines psychology, spirituality and demonology in a suspenseful and exciting, yet down-to-earth and nitty-gritty battle for one man’s mind and soul.  And finally, there is the delicious prose of its author, Jerome Lucido.  There are few contemporary authors who create such tangible word pictures, such as his description of his childhood neighbor who always seemed determined to make his life miserable: “…this woman, who was nasty right down to her genetic code.  She could’ve been the inspiration for all of Disney’s malevolent witches or pasty-white, gaunt-faced queens, though she weighed a good deal more than any of them.”

           The novel begins with its protagonist lying in bed wondering if he is the Antichrist. It is not a completely serious thought, given Jerome LaRocca’s background—seminary graduate, Bible College professor, ordained minister—yet, neither are his Antichrist musings entirely frivolous.  That dismay puts him on a quest, and the reader tags along as LaRocca searches out explanations for the bizarre, sometimes violent, flashbacks he is experiencing.

           The search is conducted through conversations with himself, a psychologist friend, his wife, a high school demon world expert, and the angel of the Abyss.  Not Always St. Jerome is driven by means of its dialogue and it is one of the novel’s many assets.  Conversations skate across the page.  As they do, they reveal character, and the people who make up Jerome LaRocca’s world, including his large family in Brooklyn where Sunday Dinner took place in sardine-like confinement:

“It didn’t take long to realize that if you slid over to your seat with hands and arms below table level, once everyone was packed in, not even Harry Houdini could free up your limbs, so the family member on your right would have to feed you.” 

           The interplay of psychology, spirituality and demonology are deftly woven together through the conversations with his psychologist friend, who is convinced Jerome’s flashbacks show evidence of a dissociative disorder, and his high school friend, who joins him the horrific struggle with the real dark side.  With a few twists and turns along the way, the book winds its way to an incredibly intense confrontation between LaRocca and his high school friend, with only their faith in God, against the combined forces of Hell. 

           Not Always St. Jerome may raise eyebrows in the evangelical Christian community because of a few raunchy sections, and some of the dialogue, but it is an honest, perceptive, refreshing piece of fiction.  The book challenges one to consider the issues of good and evil, psychology and theology and the limits of friendship—all in an enjoyable, animated read that leaves one with images not soon to be forgotten.      

Linda Brownback, M.A.
Licensed Psychologist
Director, Brownback, Mason and Associates
1702 W Walnut St, Allentown, PA 18104
610 434-1540
www.brownbackmason.com


$15.95 Tradesize Paperback