"Robert R McCammon - They Thirst" - читать интересную книгу автора (McCammon Robert R)

Thank you: Ann Cameron Mikol, Kathy Jo Camacho, Stan and Phyllis Mikol, Dr.
Stan Gurnick PhD, Wayne Sommers, Luis Trevino, Raymond, Teresa and Mark
Stadalsky, Tony Hodes, Tom Pas, Bob Weinberg, Greg Ketter, and Jeane and Paul
E. Williams III.

And, of course, special thanks go to Sally and Rick McCammon, and Wendy and
Charles Lang.

FOR SALLY, WHO HELPED ME REACH
I'd like to express appreciation to a number of people who helped me in
researching this book and putting it all together: W. B. McDonald, M.D.; James
R. Fletcher, M.D.; Gunnery Sergeant Larry Rocke, USMC; Captain Paul T. Taylor,
USMC; Detective Sergeant William Ludlow; Radu Florescu and Raymond T. McNally
for keeping the legends alive; and Mike and Elizabeth. R.M.

It was midnight in Topanga I heard the DJ say "There's a full moon rising Join
me in L.A. . . ."
-Warren Zevon

I'd kill for love
I'd kill for love
As sure as there's a God above I'd kill for love
-Rory Black

Shadows shifting everywhere; Very thin and very tall, Moving, mingling on the
wall, Till they make one Shadow all
-Augustus Julian Requier

PROLOGUE

Tonight there were demons in the hearth.
They spun, arched, and spat at the eyes of the boy who sat at the fire's edge,
his legs crossed under him in that unconscious way children have of being
incredibly supple. Chin supported by palms, elbows supported by knees, he sat
in silence, watching the flames gather, merge, and break into fragments that
hissed with secrets. He had turned nine only six days ago, but now he felt
very old because Papa wasn't home yet and those fire-demons were laughing.
While I'm away, you must be head of the house, Papa had said as he coiled a
line of thick rope around his bear's paw of a hand. You must take care of your
mother and see that all goes well while I and your uncle are gone. Do you
understand that?
Yes, Papa.
And see that you bring in the wood for her when she asks and stack it neatly
along the wall so it can dry. And anything else she asks of you, you'll do,
yes?

I will. He could still see his father's fissured, wind-ravaged face towering
over him and feel the rough-as-hearthstones hand on his shoulder. The grip of
that hand had conveyed an unspoken message: This is a serious thing I do, boy.
Make no mistake about that. Watch out for your mother and be careful.