THE KING OF ICE CREAM

Set in the small university town of Mill Run, Ky., McCoy's run-of-the-mill horror debut opens on a quiet note. In the fall of 1992, students are arriving at the University of Mill Run, which ranks "with Harvard, Duke, and Dartmouth for Business and Law studies." The Roman Catholic university is home to the Lady of Our Sorrows Cathedral, "the third oldest church on the East Coast, with towering stained glass windows, split level seating, and even catacombs, which had been made into office space." Truman Goodspeed's ice cream emporium epitomizes Mill Run's genial atmosphere, which is soon ruined by strange trucks roaring though town and a series of over-the-top calamities including murder, crucifixion, book burning and kidnapping. Wild-eyed prophets claim insight into some mysterious or forgotten God-given force, which may exist underground. Hopefully, McCoy will bring more coherence and discipline, as well as a better grasp of geography and punctuation, to the "many novels to be penned" promised in his author bio. (Sept.)