I Disappeared Them

Generations of illicit sex run through this clever and wide-ranging book in which the flesh always triumphs . . . Surely no one does church sexy like Allen . . . Allen's writing by turns is solemn and funny . . . It would be easy for Jesus Boy to become fluffy satire but Allen keeps his characters real.-- "New York Times Book Review, on Jesus Boy"
Imaginative, versatile, and daring, Allen raids the realms of myth and fairy tales in this topsy-turvy speculative fable . . . With canny improvisations on 'Jack and the Beanstalk, ' 'The Epic of Gilgamesh, ' and Alice in Wonderland, Allen sharpens our perceptions of class divides, racism, enslavement, and abrupt and devastating climate change to create a delectably adventurous, wily, funny, and wise cautionary parable.-- "Booklist, on Every Boy Should Have a Man"
As a cartographer of auto-degradation, Allen takes his place on a continuum that begins, perhaps, with Dostoyevsky's Gambler, courses through Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano, William S. Burroughs's Junky, the collected works of Charles Bukowski and Hubert Selby Jr., and persists in countless novels and (occasionally fabricated) memoirs of our puritanical, therapized present. Like Dostoyevsky, Allen colorfully evokes the gambling milieu--the chained (mis)fortunes of the players, their vanities and grotesqueries, their quasi-philosophical ruminations on chance. Like Burroughs, he is a dispassionate chronicler of the addict's daily ritual, neither glorifying nor vilifying the matter at hand.-- "New York Times Book Review, on All or Nothing"
I Disappeared Them is a riveting exploration of human complexity, blending elements of mystery, psychological depth, and societal commentary into a compelling narrative . . . [The novel] eats away at you slowly, lingering in your mind long after you've turned the last page.-- "Grimoire of Horror"
Preston L. Allen's Hunter is an Everyman Dexter, a pizza-delivery guy, seething at times, sadly longing at others. A complexing hybrid of nature and nurture, defying analysis, governed by principled passion. He'll crawl into your heart and chill you from the inside out. I love it.--Vicki Hendricks, author of Miami Purity
What if you're a good person--kind, sensitive, funny--but evil won't let you be? I Disappeared Them is the story of a good man tormented, fervently wrestling right and wrong, life and murder. His battle against the demons of a secret mental chaos is a contest he can't win, and yet we can't help but enjoy the fight, every round, blood seeping out like love to its masterful end. What I mean is that Preston L. Allen kills so good, you've never seen such desperate beauty in the grisly, lovely, fleshy pages of murder that is as groundbreaking as it is gloriously literary.--Anjanette Delgado, author of The Heartbreak Pill
Set in the urban landscape of South Florida, I Disappeared Them is a gripping novel about a serial killer who enacts his twisted sense of ethics and biblical justice on his victims. Preston L. Allen masterfully creates an obsessive character with a chillingly complex blend of darkness and humanity, even as the body count rises. With a captivating tone and often wry humor, the novel offers a portrait of a killer who loves his children that will linger in readers' minds long after the last page.--Geoffrey Philp, author of Archipelagos
I Disappeared Them is a fun, thrilling . . . novel. Preston's unique format of storytelling . . . explores ideas of nature vs nurture, generational curses, and environment. He braids them together with the taboo of infidelity, and how it affects the family structure of any child. I Disappeared Them is ideal for readers who seek a classic crime thriller. But craves a new flavor that is unique to the perspective of the genre.-- "Telegram Newspaper Detroit"
Heartfelt and occasionally hilarious, Jesus Boy is a tender masterpiece.--Dennis Lehane, on Jesus Boy