On a cold October night, five people gather in a run-down motel on the Jersey shore and begin preparations to break into The Paragon Hotel. Built in the glory days of Asbury Park by a reclusive millionaire, the magnificent structure, which foreshadowed the beauties of Art Deco architecture, is now boarded-up and marked for demolition.

The five people are "creepers," the slang term for urban explorers: city archeologists with a passion for investigating abandoned buildings and their dying secrets. On this evening, they are joined by a reporter who wants to profile them - anonymously, as this is highly illegal activity - for a New York Times article.

Balenger, the sandy-haired, broad-shouldered reporter with a decided air of mystery about him, isn't looking for just a story, however. And after the group enters the rat-infested tunnel leading to the hotel, it becomes clear that he will get much more than he bargained for. Danger, terror, and death await the creepers in a place ravaged by time and redolent of evil.

CREEPERS, David Morrell's gripping joy-ride of a thriller, depicts every harrowing second in eight hours of relentless suspense. It will haunt readers for many nights to come.

ABOUT URBAN EXPLORATION

"Creepers" is the slang term for urban explorers: history and architecture enthusiasts who share a keen fascination with exploring abandoned buildings and tunnels. The Internet reveals hundreds of thousands of urban-explorer contacts throughout the world. But for every group that decides to publicize itself, there are many who don't – because urban exploration is illegal and so unsafe it can be deadly. Authorities impose serious jail terms and/or fines to discourage it. Creepers liken their adventures to the covert-ops military expression for invading hostile territory: infiltration. As www.infiltration.org indicates, the objective is "places you're not supposed to go".