Desperation is a mining town in the Nevada desert on Highway 50. Several different groups of travellers pass along its stretch. They are all approached and arrested because of very dubious circumstantial evidence by the local Police Officer. He makes everyone very uneasy and when taken to the town cells, they realise that there has been wholesale slaughter in the streets . The Police Officer has designs on their demise as well.

Fortunately one of the travellers, a young boy, David, has in his earlier youth found God and through Him performed a minor miracle to save the life of his schoolfriend. As a return of the favour, God is promised any assistance at any time, by David. So David becomes the only salvation for the travellers and other towns.

This is a cleverly constructed story which is both intriguing and very horrific. There are old gods involved and many species of mammals, reptiles and insects are taken over by the entities. The plot moves along rapidly through the first and last third of the book, but there is some repetitive narrative in the middle section which could have been shortened. The characters are excellent and the boy, David is not portrayed as too holy or religious. The language of the book and the descriptions of all the circumstances are were good and the ending is complete.

Easy to read and hard to put down!