Monster's Chef: A Novel - Hardcover

Tervalon, Jervey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062316206 ISBN 13: 9780062316202

Publisher: Amistad, 2014

Synopsis

From award-winning, Los Angeles Times bestselling author Jervey Tervalon comes a highly clever, twisting tale of suspense involving drugs, perverse sex, and poisonous celebrity worship, in which a man trying to rebuild his life becomes entangled in dangerous and deadly circumstances.

Once upon a time, Gibson was a successful chef with a popular restaurant and a beautiful loving wife. He was also a drug addict with a habit that nearly destroyed him.

Fresh out of rehab, he’s now using his skills to feed his fellow halfway house residents budget gourmet meals—a talent that attracts two shady women who offer him a job cooking for a music superstar named Monster. Though Gibson doesn’t have a good feeling about his seeming good fortune, he needs a job.

Arriving on Monster’s compound, Gibson senses that trouble is still on his tail. First, he’s asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. Then he meets the compound’s gardener, who warns him not to go outside at night—and tells him that to stay alive he must see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing.

It is advice that proves all too true when Gibson discovers a dead body near his bungalow a few nights later. Suddenly, all hell is breaking loose . . . and Gibson is at the center. Now he has to figure out how to escape this terrifying nightmare . . . and whether he can. 

About this title

From the Back Cover:

From award-winning, bestselling author Jervey Tervalon comes an enthralling, twisting tale of suspense, drugs, perverse sex, and poisonous celebrity worship.

Gibson was once a successful chef enjoying the popularity of his hip New York City restaurant with his beautiful, loving wife. But Gibson also had a raging drug addiction that lurked in the background, threatening to ravage everything he had . . . and it did.

Fresh out of rehab and now creating gourmet meals for the residents of a halfway house, Gibson is struggling to repair his life. His talent is recognized by the house's manager, who uses her connections to land him a job as the personal chef of Monster, the musical genius of his time. It's an opportunity Gibson can't refuse, even though his gut is telling him to run the other way.

Arriving at Monster's compound, Gibson falls into a world of privilege-driven madness. He's asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. He's warned never to speak to Monster's wife, an irresistible woman who is reportedly mute. The gardener cautions him against walking the grounds at night, advising him to see nothing, hear nothing, and say nothing. He's also witness to Monster's ability to make the lives of those around him kaleidoscopes of confusion and despair. When Gibson discovers a dead body near his bungalow, he is propelled into an ever-darker mystery. Now he must figure out not only how to escape this terrifying nightmare . . . but whether he can.

About the Author:

Jervey Tervalon is the author of five books, including the bestselling Dead Above Ground and Understand This, for which he won the New Voices Award from the Quality Paperback Book Club. He edited the anthology The Cocaine Chronicles. He was a Remsen Bird writer in residence at Occidental College and a Disney screenwriting fellow. He is the director of the Literature for Life project, an online literary magazine and salon, and the literary director of LitFest Pasadena. Born in New Orleans, he now lives in California and teaches at the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara.

About this edition

• Publisher: Amistad
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0062316206
• ISBN 13: 9780062316202
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224