Banished

About the Book

Father Thomas Garrity is a Catholic priest who unexpectedly comes face to face with a horrific demon. Through fate or demonic manipulation, he winds up substituting for a prison chaplain who mysteriously committed suicide and was counseling a serial killer condemned on death row. Garrity meets with the convict, who at first is mute, and then becomes all too talkative, claiming to be a demon. A naïve Father Garrity assumes he is dealing with a schizophrenic. Truly possessed by the demon Furfur, the inmate begins his attack on Father Garrity. As all Catholic priests, Garrity is uneducated and unskilled at confronting the supernatural, much less a demon. This demon is intent on destroying Garity's faith in God through any means possible. The one problem is that this "inmate" will be executed in a week, so time is of the essence. At first Garrity thinks that he must only survive until the execution, but then finds he will become hunted afterward by a demon that will transfer to a whole new body. Furfur, a documented fallen angel taken from demonology, initially attempts to overwhelm Garrity with his knowledge and history. Failing, he escalates his efforts to violence, and eventually murders. Father Garrity, as all common parish priests, is inexperienced, but is desperate to defeat this demon, even though his path is crammed with obstacles. He is surrounded by non-believers and a Catholic organization that has created an impossible bureaucracy which frowns on the very mention of exorcism. The demon Furfur intends to deliver the soul of this convict to hell and then transfer himself to another person and continue to torment the priest. Father Garrity finds that Furfur, in documented demonology, ranks high in the hierarchy of hell and has 150,000 demons at his command. Although in prison, Furfur can torture the priest through hurting those close to him simply by using his legions. Father Garrity reaches out to the Vatican and eventually enlists the help of the official head Exorcist. He is also aided by an unofficial American exorcist. Their realization that the limited time until the execution is nowhere near adequate for an exorcism, makes for an unsolvable dilemma. The surrounding cast of characters adds to the complexity and suspense. Father Garrity’s immediate superior, Pastor Wiesbauer, is an elderly and gentle mentor who offers advice. A kindly old housekeeper Margaret is the rectories mother hen. A retired Father James Nolan, an unofficial exorcist, enters as a timely adviser. The prison psychologist Katherine Schuler stands confused. The Vatican’s boisterous Father Dominic Tutolo, flies in to assist. A befuddled but helpful warden Buddy Thornton, watches mystified, but it is Father Garrity’s Chicago detective brother Bobby, that becomes the unpredictable loose cannon. Finally, becoming a major obstruction is the Catholic Diocese Monsignor Hall, who is only concerned with the churches public image. Father Garrity has his problems with the Catholic organization and the changes made to the religion in the recent past. He is unhappy with the concern of the financial interests over the concern for parishioners. He has doubts whether confession and weekly forgiveness is not perpetuating sin and is a revolving door. Yet he maintains an unshakable faith in God. A faith so strong, that he will never bend to the demon Furur. A faith so strong that divine intervention is called for. Father Garrity has a faith so strong that it can create a miracle. Follow Father Garrity, a flawed outspoken priest with a temper, a sense of justice, and no fear as he uses his faith as a shield and enters a fight he knows he cannot win. See how he learns that initially demons are not scary, but instead seductive. He learns that only after the seduction that the evil and violence enter the picture. He would rather sacrifice his life than let this evil prevail. Learn how demons introduce themselves with a form of seduction with intentions to destroy a person’s very soul. Whether drugs, alcohol, food, sex, violence, or gambling, a demon will enter your life and become that little voice inside your head. This trip will open your eyes and take you into the world of horror. If that world exists, you surely want Father Garrity on your side.

About the Author

Edwin F Becker was born in Chicago, Illinois--a Baby Boomer. Coming from an abusive broken home, he spent a number of elementary years in Maryville, a Catholic children's institution. There he learned Latin and became an alter boy. He went on to become a professional musician and spent his later teen years traveling the states with a R&B Show band. He worked with the Byrds, Temptations, and Chicago, to name a few groups. During his travels, he met and married his wife of 44 years. Entering college, he studied the emerging field of computers and eventually progressed to a programmer, systems analyst, telecommunications specialist, operations manager and finally to a VP of MIS for a major health care corporation. He assisted the Department of Defense in automating their procurement department in Philadelphia in the early 1980's. He became president of a software company that catered to the sales and development of health care inventory management. Suffering a near fatal heart attack, he retired to the Ozarks where he opened a collectible store for a number of years. He has been writing original stories for over two decades for pure enjoyment. He has two daughters that have given him four granddaughters which he considers God's gifts. His youngest daughter is involved with fostering abused children, and rescuing animals, including horses. He has a son-in-law involved in law enforcement. His life experience and interests run the gamut. During his life, he has enjoyed boating, martial arts, ballistics, comics, guitars, motorcycles, religion, and conspiracies, to name a few. Today he resides in Branson, where he enjoys the year around activity and entertainment. He is very opinionated and many of his works contain a strong social subtext. Missouri, the “Show Me” state, seems an appropriate place to reside. His personal philosophy? “Leave everything and everyone better than you found them.”