From Publishers Weekly
Reincarnation and karmic destiny direct the adventures of a psychiatrist hero in Corsaro's earnest but gawky horror debut. David Sussman, an unorthodox Manhattan shrink who incorporates Buddhist principles into his practice, receives a request from wealthy Laurel Hunt to treat her art dealer husband, Hugh, who's been hospitalized after a psychotic break that has him convinced he's "burning up." Uninterested, David fobs Laurel off on a colleague who, after interviewing her, utters the cryptic word "Kunma" and then dies in spectacularly gruesome fashion. Drawn ineluctably into the intrigue-and all too eagerly into Laurel's bed-David investigates and begins turning up clues about Hugh, Laurel and their son Chris that resonate strangely with his own religious beliefs. When a bookseller friend apprises David that "the Kunma is a thief of the soul" from Tibetan mythology, David is galvanized into spiritual self-examination to find answers to the increasingly bizarre puzzle in a possible past life. Corsaro makes the most of his novel's unusual Buddhist angle, giving the reader just enough mystical instruction at key points to make sense of events without dispelling their supernatural aura. Inevitably, though, he inflicts lengthy, literal dreams on David to explain exactly what's happening. Once the mystery is demystified, the novel shifts to conventional thriller mode, replete with a bloody shoot-out in a protracted climax. Readers won't have to believe in deja vu to feel that they've seen most of this tale's surprises before.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
The myths and legends of the Tibetan Book of the Dead come alive in this brilliant first novel by the world-renowned director of stage and opera.
Laurel Hunt walked into the office of David Sussman enveloped in a grave beauty that took his breath away. And then she announced that her husband, who was currently in a mental institution, was not crazy but in the grip of something monstrous.
Dr. Sussman had ministered to his patients' fantasies, neuroses, and psychoses for a good number of years; he'd studied in India and Tibet; he'd seen and heard it all before. Or so he thought.
This case would take him, against his will and in the face of every scientific law he held dear, into the realms of reincarnation and Buddhist myth. But these realms were not the bottom of this mystic enigma-only in the Tibetan Book of the Dead would David Sussman begin to find the answers he sought. As murder and madness stalk him, the evidence leads David to a conclusion his sanity refuses to accept . . . until the mists of Time and Space open to reveal the monstrosity that has come to claim him as its own-the Kunma.
A stunning first novel that takes the reader deep into the unknown regions of mind and soul and into the very heart of the darkness that lives in every human being.
From the Inside Flap
"A dazzling, over-the-top thriller from the great director Frank Corsaro!" -Maurice Sendak
"How marvelous that a living theatrical legend should venture into scary fiction. This is not your ordinary demonic possession story, and it heralds a new venue for Frank Corsaro's impressive talents. Read and enjoy-I did." -Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
"Frank Corsaro's sense of drama as a stage and opera director carries over
to his writing, making Kunma a dramatic thriller." -Renée Fleming, internationally acclaimed soprano
"Corsaro's book should be labeled Read At Your Own Risk, for it will take you to a place you won't want to go." -A. E. Hotchner, author of Papa Hemingway
About the Author
Stage director Frank Corsaro is artistic director of the Juilliard Opera Center and has served on the Juilliard faculty since 1987. He has been associated since 1957 with the New York City Opera. Corsaro was the artistic director of the Actor's Studio in New York City. Mr. Corsaro lives in Manhattan.
Kunma FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Laurel Hunt walked into the office of David Sussman enveloped in a grave beauty that took his breath away. And then she announced that her husband, who was currently in a mental institution, was not crazy but in the grip of something monstrous." "Dr. Sussman had ministered to his patient's fantasies, neuroses, and psychoses for a good number of years; he'd studied in India and Tibet; he'd seen and heard it all before. Or so he thought." This case would take him, against his will and in the face of every scientific law he held dear, into the realms of reincarnation and Buddhist myth. But these realms were not the bottom of this mystic enigma - only in the Tibetan Book of the Dead would David Sussman begin to find the answers he sought. As murder and madness stalk him, the evidence leads David to a conclusion his sanity refuses to accept...until the mists of Time and Space open to reveal the monstrosity that has come to claim him as its own - the Kunma.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Reincarnation and karmic destiny direct the adventures of a psychiatrist hero in Corsaro's earnest but gawky horror debut. David Sussman, an unorthodox Manhattan shrink who incorporates Buddhist principles into his practice, receives a request from wealthy Laurel Hunt to treat her art dealer husband, Hugh, who's been hospitalized after a psychotic break that has him convinced he's "burning up." Uninterested, David fobs Laurel off on a colleague who, after interviewing her, utters the cryptic word "Kunma" and then dies in spectacularly gruesome fashion. Drawn ineluctably into the intrigue-and all too eagerly into Laurel's bed-David investigates and begins turning up clues about Hugh, Laurel and their son Chris that resonate strangely with his own religious beliefs. When a bookseller friend apprises David that "the Kunma is a thief of the soul" from Tibetan mythology, David is galvanized into spiritual self-examination to find answers to the increasingly bizarre puzzle in a possible past life. Corsaro makes the most of his novel's unusual Buddhist angle, giving the reader just enough mystical instruction at key points to make sense of events without dispelling their supernatural aura. Inevitably, though, he inflicts lengthy, literal dreams on David to explain exactly what's happening. Once the mystery is demystified, the novel shifts to conventional thriller mode, replete with a bloody shoot-out in a protracted climax. Readers won't have to believe in d j vu to feel that they've seen most of this tale's surprises before. (June 2) Forecast: The well-connected author, a stage director on the Julliard faculty with a long-standing association with New York City Opera, has secured blurbs from the disparate likes of Maurice Sendak, soprano Ren e Fleming and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. The greater community of artists and performers may partially offset weak sales among horror fans. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Laurel Hunt seeks the help of psychiatrist David Sussman, claiming that her institutionalized husband is not insane but possessed by a monstrous being. Reluctant at first to pursue the case, Sussman finds himself pulled into Hunt's problem, which seems linked to Tibetan mythology and Buddhist beliefs. Eventually, Sussman is brought face to face with an entity from beyond the physical world, a creature of destruction called the Kunma. Corsaro's first novel draws on material from the Tibetan Book of the Dead to craft a fast-moving dark fantasy with entertaining characters and some graphic descriptions of violence. Suitable for large horror collections. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
First novel-and a horror novel at that-by veteran opera director Corsaro. Eight years ago, David Sussman went to India to sit at the feet of Rajneesh, and when he returned to Manhattan's Psychiatric Institute he tried to get the Institute to bring Buddhist ideas to bear on the its method of analysis. For that, he was tossed out. Although he has some Buddhist trimmings in his office and technique, Dr. Sussman will strike few as a therapist of great resources when he reduces analysis to "games people play"-but we know he'll pay for his simple-mindedness. Beautiful millionairess Laurel Hunt approaches him to look into the case of her prominent art dealer husband, who has been invaded, she says, by an evil entity or malevolent force that David comes to know as "Kunma." His wife ties Hugh Caswell Hunt's breakdown to the murder of Charles Kirkwood Palfrey, acting head of the Hunt Galleries in London, whose tongue was ripped out. When David interviews Hugh and reads up on him, he decides to transfer Laurel to bubbling occultist Dr. Ara Havakian, who warns David about Kunma but then has his own tongue ripped out and his brain chewed by canine-like incisors. Can it be the work of Tibet's brain-eating Tolos monster? A tape Ara made of Laurel reveals that her husband is bisexual and that she'd had an affair with the late Charles Palfrey. David beds her, too, and she tells him that now he'll also be on Kunma's list. Then the drooling mouth and teeth of dead Palfrey savagely attack Laurel's genitals. When David at last faces tongueless Kunma, a soul trapped in hell, he finds the thing seeking him as a teacher. Can David's answers lie in the Tibetan Book of the Dead when he finds himself part ofKunma's karmic destiny? Corsaro's karma? Still in question.
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