ISBN 0-312-13021-X (US hbk)

"The incredible talents of Marc Laidlaw have brought us sharp-edged satire and edge-of-your-seat suspense, but nothing in the known world can prepare readers for the unsettling horror of The 37th Mandala .

"The mandalas spawn in the sickness of our souls. They have always been among us, unseen and uncalled. Those few occult masters who have encountered them have known to leave them alone.

"When a cynical New Age charlatan named Derek Crowe learns of them, he sees an opportunity for big bucks. All he needs to do is turn the mandalas into guardian spirits with a message of joy -- and fortune will be his. And Derek's success will be our undoing.

"The 37th Mandala is a magnificent novel of unnatural dread. The initiated will find it comforting. The rest of us must live in fear." [jacket blurb, UK hbk, 1996]

"Laidlaw has the moves to put him in that rare place where hipness meets wisdom." --K.W.Jeter.

"I can't understand why I'm the only guy around here who knows that Marc Laidlaw is one of the best, most original writers of the fantastic around. But here's The 37th Mandala , and with this one, I'm sure to be overtaken by hundreds of thousands of new Laidlaw admirers. This one will eat your brain." --John Shirley.

"Marc Laidlaw is writing the kind of horror fiction that made me fall in love with the field in the first place. While he can be gruesome when he needs to be, his real power is in the largeness of his vision. The 37th Mandala is a masterpiece of the kind of visionary horror we've hardly seen since Lovecraft died." --Ramsey Campbell (author of The Count of Eleven ).

"Laidlaw, author of Kalifornia , writes at the speed of squeam. He is a master of the lurid, the vile." -- (in Los Angeles Times Book Review ).

"Derek Crowe quits his job as copywriter for an advertising agency to write books. After his novels fail to sell, he cynically decides to take advantage of the gullible new age market. His first three 'nonfiction' books achieve some minor success. Then, he decides to chronicle the life of Elias Mooney, a visionary mystic. This brings him into contact with the 37 mandalas. After that, his life is no longer his own.

"Laidlaw has written an extraordinary novel, weaving skepticism and credibility together into a modern Lovecraftian horror. But more than that, his characters also provide a means to comment on contemporary times. Well-written and very readable, this book showcases Laidlaw at his best. It took me two years to track down a copy, so if you come across it be advised to grab it immediately." --Henry W.Targowski (in Mark/Space , May 1998).