Monster's Chef: A Novel

From award-winning, Los Angeles Times bestselling author Jervey Tervalon comes a highly clever, twisting tale of suspense involving drugs, perverse sex, and poisonous celebrity worship, in which a man trying to rebuild his life becomes entangled in dangerous and deadly circumstances.

Once upon a time, Gibson was a successful chef with a popular restaurant and a beautiful loving wife. He was also a drug addict with a habit that nearly destroyed him.

Fresh out of rehab, he’s now using his skills to feed his fellow halfway house residents budget gourmet meals—a talent that attracts two shady women who offer him a job cooking for a music superstar named Monster. Though Gibson doesn’t have a good feeling about his seeming good fortune, he needs a job.

Arriving on Monster’s compound, Gibson senses that trouble is still on his tail. First, he’s asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. Then he meets the compound’s gardener, who warns him not to go outside at night—and tells him that to stay alive he must see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing.

It is advice that proves all too true when Gibson discovers a dead body near his bungalow a few nights later. Suddenly, all hell is breaking loose . . . and Gibson is at the center. Now he has to figure out how to escape this terrifying nightmare . . . and whether he can. 

From award-winning, bestselling author Jervey Tervalon comes an enthralling, twisting tale of suspense, drugs, perverse sex, and poisonous celebrity worship.

Gibson was once a successful chef enjoying the popularity of his hip New York City restaurant with his beautiful, loving wife. But Gibson also had a raging drug addiction that lurked in the background, threatening to ravage everything he had . . . and it did.

Fresh out of rehab and now creating gourmet meals for the residents of a halfway house, Gibson is struggling to repair his life. His talent is recognized by the house's manager, who uses her connections to land him a job as the personal chef of Monster, the musical genius of his time. It's an opportunity Gibson can't refuse, even though his gut is telling him to run the other way.

Arriving at Monster's compound, Gibson falls into a world of privilege-driven madness. He's asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. He's warned never to speak to Monster's wife, an irresistible woman who is reportedly mute. The gardener cautions him against walking the grounds at night, advising him to see nothing, hear nothing, and say nothing. He's also witness to Monster's ability to make the lives of those around him kaleidoscopes of confusion and despair. When Gibson discovers a dead body near his bungalow, he is propelled into an ever-darker mystery. Now he must figure out not only how to escape this terrifying nightmare . . . but whether he can.

“Tervalon’s impressive and long-awaited new novel draws you in to a modern-day labyrinth of fame, wealth, power, and, gradually, a secret core of iniquity. . . . It’s a timely vision and a compulsively readable parable, at once both fantastic and true.” - Frederick Reiken, author of Day for Night

“Jervey Tervalon’s fast-moving tale is sure to strike a tantalizing chord for anyone who could not stop following the excesses of one certain bizarre postracial soft-voiced entertainer with a penchent for childhood amusements.” - Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander

“Tervalon’s latest is masterful. He takes the kind of chances every writer dreams of. Monster’s Chef is delicious reading.” - Grace Octavia, Essence bestselling author of Should Have Known Better

“Jervey Tervalon is a fantastic, brilliant and fearless writer, with a voice I would follow anywhere. . . . I straight-up loved this book.” - Jerry Stahl, author of Permanent Midnight

“Jervey Tervalon is a fantastic, brilliant and fearless writer, with a voice I would follow anywhere. If there is any justice in this godless hellhole of a universe, Monster’s Chef should bring him the wide and worshipful audience he deserves. With echoes of Junot Diaz, William Gibson and Walter Mosley, Monster’s Chef takes us to places other writers would think twice-at least-before visiting, and makes the reader glad to be there. I straight-up loved this book.” - Jerry Stahl, author of Permanent Midnight

“Tervalon’s impressive and long-awaited new novel draws you in to a modern-day labyrinth of fame, wealth, power, and, gradually, a secret core of iniquity. What’s startling is how familiar the whole spectacle becomes once Monster shows his face and begins to speak. It’s a timely vision and a compulsively readable parable, at once both fantastic and true.” - Frederick Reiken, author of Day for Night

“Jervey Tervalon has a sick and original imagination—and I mean that in a good way.” - Tayari Jones, author of Leaving Atlanta

“Boldly basing this freakish music mogul on Michael Jackson, best-selling Tervalon (Dead above Ground, 2000) creates a tangy tale of suspense spiked with fantasy and wrapped around a peppery investigation into the twisted complexities of race, sex, power, and obsession. . . . Recipes are included in Tervalon’s clever, hair-raising gothic thriller, a novel readers will devour. . . .” - Booklist

“Tervalon creates a tangy tale of suspense spiked with fantasy and wrapped around a peppery investigation into the twisted complexities of race, sex, power, and obsession. . . . Recipes are included in Tervalon’s clever, hair-raising gothic thriller, a novel readers will devour.” - Booklist