During the reading of
"The Book of Astaroth" we learned enough about Sam Grimes’
background, work history and world view to show us that he’d profited from the
sexual revolution of the sixties. He’d also found that somewhere in his mind or
genome lurked the potential to murder. Like us Sam never discovered whether it
had to do with Astaroth, the book, his own incessant repetition of the phrases
from the book or some internal fault in his makeup. Sadly he never questioned
the reality of his experience and that lack places him squarely with others who
live the unexamined life.
Sam Grimes appears to
make inadvertently bad decisions. A perfect example was his going to see Sally
and Sari after his experimental college attempt to raise Astaroth. His need or
perhaps desire to experience a two-fer with the women led to unintended
consequences in the form of a detective asking him about the last time he saw
Sari alive. Another load for him to carry while trying to prepare for the
master’s exam. He doesn’t know whether she was really alive when he left and
neither do we.
Was it suicide or was
it murder? After the gruesome happening in the university cafeteria, Sam has to
confront a horror in The Barn, another university venue. He thinks about his
experimental college class. Did the student's death have something to do with
the illustration Sam requested? More questions than answers as the story
progresses.
One has to wonder
where Sam Grimes was prior to his stint at the university. That question arises
from his obvious enthrallment with the results of the sexual revolution. In the
current academic environment he would probably face criminal charges or at the
very least be banished from the campus and lose his teaching assistanceship.
And where did his enthusiasm for primates come from? We'll have to read on to
see whether our questions will be answered
