The Night Class

Caleb Prentiss is a senior English major in a small Midwestern college. That sounds like the opening line of one of those old Letters to Penthouse, and Tom Piccirilli's book does have elements of that genre. There is a Dean's wife, and a girlfriend, and a dead girl, who may or may not have existed but certainly was not who she claimed to be.

This girl was murdered in Cal's room during the short winter session. He can still see the bloodstain under the fresh coating of peach-colored paint. I know, why doesn't he just change rooms? But Cal has a lot on his mind. He is alcoholic, an orphan, he has walked out on his ethics class, the ghost of his dead sister (a suicide) occasionally floats by his side, and when somebody dies nearby he receives the stigmata, that great spiritual blessing usually reserved for saints. Cal is no saint, and his blessing leaves a bloody trail across the snowy campus.

The NIght Class is a fever dream of a novel. The action takes place in one day with occasional flashbacks. At times I felt like I knew what was going on, but at other times I just went with it. And it goes some very strange places.