"From a ruined chemical weapons bunker in Iraq to a shallow grave in California's San Andreas Fault, the lines are drawn for a shadow war that will decide who – or what – will inherit the earth and reign as the next dominant species," says the teaser on the back of Perilous Press's flagship novel, Radiant Dawn. While the subject matter isn't necessarily my cup of napalm, I must admit that Goodfellow's descriptive, engaging writing style had me hooked from beginning to end.

The story opens up with bullets flying in a foxhole during Desert Storm in 1991, then flash-forwards to a lonely supplies store in a ramshackle desert community in Death Valley, California, eight years later. It turns out the survivalist townies have good reason to be paranoid.

From the beginning the story focuses on the main character/beleaguered hero, Gulf War veteran Zane Ezekiel Storch, a man whose closest friends include a melting mutant named Pop Sickle, and a cave-dwelling hermit with a penchant for taxidermy. Goodfellow then begins to flip back and forth between Zane and two other characters, terminally ill ER nurse Stella Orozco, and zealous novice FBI agent Martin Cundieffe. Each of these people must choose sides between a militia of outlaw government scientists, or the enchanting messiah who seems to hold the key to eternal life. Eventually, the paths of the three intersect, and Radiant Dawn builds to what promises to be an explosive climax.

I truly relished Goodfellow's pull-no-punches, descriptive writing style which I found, in places, to be a cross between a less wordy Stephen King and a more coherent William Burroughs. One character's breath is described as, "a melange of corn chips, vaginal mucus, unfiltered camels and rampant tooth decay." I winced more than once while reading Radiant Dawn (that's a good thing!) and as I pored over each page, I kept thinking that fans of The X-Files would really like this book. While considerably more violent and graphic than the TV series, it's got all the elements of skullduggery, paranoia, and the questioning of authority which us devotees of that show delight in.

Each of the characters – even the periphery ones – are fully developed, three-dimensional people with distinct thoughts, quirks and personalities. I rooted for Zane as he narrowly escaped death more than once; I could almost feel Stella's pain when she was denied a place at Radiant Dawn's cancer treatment center; and I chuckled when a little note from Martin's mom in his lunch bag was nearly discovered by his superiors.

In sum, Radiant Dawn is an excellent novel, well-written, fast-paced and meticulously thought-out. My only complaint is that the book ends in a cliffhanger. Yes, Radiant Dawn II is promised in 2001, but after investing so much time and care into a rather long book, I'd really rather have closure over curiosity.

Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson