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Explaining My Novel: Lord of Homicides

The cover represents the crucifixion of Christ on Calvary. The bent cross represents my twisted telling
of the Second Coming. The wall is from an actual building that caught fire and burned to
the ground. It was rumored that demons did it.

“Lord of Homicides was my return to a type novel I felt comfortable writing. I take an idea and imagine how I would write the story if I was totally nuts. My heroes are usually losers striving to change their lives.  This novel started during an attempt to explain why normal people suddenly commit horrible crimes against innocent strangers: school attacks, restaurant shootings, and unexplained murder. I created my often bizarre and comic view of the dimension we sometimes see when things dart past the corners of our eyes: the realm of psychotic demons and paranoid angels.”

The Summary

Lord of Homicides explains why normal people commit sudden horrible crimes; based on the concept that all humans are born with good traits and commit such acts only under demon influence. The story is a unique comic approach to the spiritual plane.  The demons do horrible things, but you could like them. You also like the angels because they are outnumbered, pure, and naive. Demons and angels are pre-destined to fight wars and do what they do to humans. Humans have no fate other than if they resist possession, they go to Heaven, and if not they go to Hell. I've created most demons from scratch because there is really no information on demons or angels other than a few names in literature. I've created rules for their world to merge with human existence. The central theme is to answer the question: Who is Nathan Bright?
BALBERITH is the Lord of Homicides, forced to take command of the North American demon legions after Lucifer turned good and went back to Heaven. The lead character, NATHAN BRIGHT, age 53, the only person in human history to see demons and angels, is an alcoholic gambler with a lousy day job. His first wife was murdered by a serial killer, and his second wife ran away after cleaning out the bank account. She left him with SPIKE, a biting, two-tailed mongrel dog. Spike is possessed by a demon named SCROTUM and talks to Nathan as his bodyguard and weird psychiatrist.
The novel opens with Nathan’s drunken trip home after a bad Friday night at the casino. For the past week, he sees demons from the corners of his eyes. His Jeep is almost destroyed by the Lord of Homicides because the demons want to know who Nathan is and why he can suddenly see them. Demons consider Nathan to be a special person, but none of them know why. Only MOSES, the ancient prophet turned angel, knows Nathan’s identity. But he hasn’t told his immediate boss, MICHAEL, the dedicated but rather dumb Heavenly Army commander.
Nathan doesn’t have a clue why he can see the other side. He tries to control his addictions while his growing power creates havoc on the demon ethereal plane. Scrotum helps Nathan cheat at casino blackjack and almost gets him arrested. Balberith believes Nathan is the Second Coming of Christ and an angel spy. He decides to get rid of Nathan again, and this time it won’t be on a cross.  Balberith sends a demon named GONADIS into Hell to question CECIL BRIGHT because he doubts the man was Nathan’s father.  They find out Nathan’s mother was five months pregnant when she married Cecil, and she claimed a giant spirit finger created Nathan. This convinces Balberith that Nathan is the Second Coming.
Nathan's Catholic nun sister, BARBARA, comes for an extended visit from San Francisco, after a loss of faith makes her abandon her calling. Nathan’s childhood friend JOE BISON, a psychotic ex-cop under Balberith’s control, kills a wanted terrorist and steals a stainless steal suitcase. Joe shows up at Nathan’s house and wants to stay in the barn. Nathan doesn’t know that Balberith has chosen Joe to detonate the suitcase in downtown Cincinnati the following Monday. 
Two FBI agents, DON MALLARD and BILL DUC, see a security camera tape of Joe Bison killing the terrorist and taking the suitcase.  They ask Cincinnati police captain, MIKE ZIBBLE, to help them locate Bison before he can explode what they think is either a neutron bomb or a chemical weapon. Zibble hates Joe Bison and agrees to help them. The agents tell him he could possibly get a ten million dollar reward for bringing in Bison if the psychotic cop is involved with wanted terrorists.
Nathan feels trapped, with demons surrounding his house and scary Joe Bison in the barn. He must try to act his normal depressed and drunken self around his nun sister and still interact with the demons and angels, each with their own bizarre functions and habits: Peckerpaw, Phartus, Gonadis, Behemoth, Tumoor, Mollock, Scizz, Azhole, Michael, Gabriel, Visa, and Alphonso. The angels and demons are about to fight a war above Nathan’s house, but they get blown from the sky after Barbara falls in love with Joe Bison, and Nathan hears them having sex. He screams “Jesus Christ”, and the shock wave blows both armies from the sky while they still argue about Nathan’s identity.
After gathering his scattered forces, Balberith can’t figure out how to get rid of Nathan Bright. Gonadis reminds him that Nathan works in Cincinnati and will be there when Joe Bison explodes the suitcase. On Monday morning everyone heads toward Cincinnati and their bizarre date with destiny. Lord of Homicides is a contemporary dark comedy with a view of a dimension we can only imagine exists. (Since the ending is a surprise, I haven’t revealed the conclusion.)
Another version of the cover

Lord of Homicides Review
Lord of Homicides
by Dennis Latham, (A&S) '92
This talented storyteller takes readers on another weird and entertaining ride in his new paranormal humor novel. Original and unexpected characters, both good and evil, vie for and against an event of possibly major destruction in Greater Cincinnati. More slapstick than terrifying, each "army" in this Armageddon is burdened with very odd habits and crude expressions. Even the confused hero, Nathan Bright, is uncertain about where his loyalty lies. Latham's third novel explores Bright's character. A chronic drunk and gambler who lives in Aurora, Ind., and an unmotivated but good-hearted loser, he is totally unknown to the demon horde until his name is "writ large" by a fiery finger on a Denver cliff side. Could Nathan be the Second Coming? The finger doesn't say, and Nathan doesn't know, but the demons are keeping their eyes on him.
University of Cincinnati Magazine

Hellnotes Review
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