[who did it] Fall 2002 CD Publications; limited hardcover. Leisure Books, spring 2003; mass-market paperback.

[chance of gettin'] Pretty damn good. Buy a hardcover copy from The Official Edward Lee Bookstore.

[the skinny] You could call Lee’s fifteenth published novel ultimate pulp horror, and while many writers wouldn’t appreciate that “pulp” tag, Lee is proud of it. “I took the enduring formulaic designs of all those great ‘50s b-movies and revved them up into the 21st century,” Lee says. “It’s ‘Kitchen Sink’ pulp horror. All the things that make those sorts of story designs a lot of fun are in this.” In MONSTROSITY, Lee tackles the mad-scientist theme to offer a rather hardcore treatment, part eco-horror, part erotic psycho-drama, part full-tilt monster gore fest. Main character Clare Prentiss has just been kicked out of the Air Force on a bum rap but just when she’s reached the lowest ebb of her life, a mysterious stranger hires her to be the security manager of a private cancer clinic. From there, meth-head/psychosexual rednecks, a lake full of deformed creatures, and lots of raunchy lovin’ all add up to reveal a hideous secret that involves an archaeological excavation five years previous. All the while, protagonist Clare is being stalked but not by a man, by a monstrosity. Lee’s version of this tried and true pulp horror theme tests the limits of just how far a mass-market novel can push the envelope of creative explicitness. (Ignore uncorrected reports of a Lee novel entitled THE CLINIC--this is it. THE CLINIC was his working title when he first signed with Leisure.) The novel is set in Florida, and is the first fiction Lee wrote after he moved there. . Interestingly, Lee began writing MONSTROSITY on May 1st, 2001, only ten days after being hospitalized for malignant hypertension. Lee came close to either dying or becoming seriously disabled. Though his health has improved greatly, he lost fifty percent of his kidney function and most of the vision in his left eye. “Most people move down to Florida for their health,” Lee jokes. “A month after I arrived, I almost croaked! I remember lying in the emergency room, and all the doctors giving me some real funky looks, like they were thinking ‘How come this guy hasn’t stroked out yet,’ but the only thing that kept running through my mind was, “Holy shit, I can’t die! I have to write MONSTROSITY! I’ve got a deadline!’ I was really surprised how fast I was able to get back into my regular writing routine once I was released from the hospital.” Lee hopes to one day write a sequel--HARVEST OF FLESH--set in his previous home of Seattle.