Carrion Comfort is a science fiction/horror novel by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 writer Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons

Dan Simmons is an American author most widely known for his Hugo Award-winning science fiction series, known as the Hyperion Cantos, and for his Locus-winning Ilium/Olympos cycle....

, published in 1989 in hard cover by Dark Harvest

Dark Harvest

Dark Harvest is a 2004 horror film, specifically a slasher, written and directed by Paul Moore.-Synopsis:The movie takes place in the summer of 2002 when Sean inherits a farmhouse from his father. Sean was adopted at birth and until that point had no idea about his family...

 and in 1990 in paperback by Warner Books.

Plot Summary

The premise of the novel is that a small number of humans are born with the Ability, which gives them the power to take control of others, mind and body. These psychic vampires vary in the strength of their gift, but most have been corrupted by it and are extremely dangerous. Not only do they use others as tools or sources of amusement, they quickly discover that they gain energy from the act, "feeding" from the emotions of those they control - and feeding most successfully when their victims are tormented or forced into acts of violence. Thus, many of the most violent and inexplicable human actions are actually signs of these mind vampires at work.

Saul Laski, a former victim, is determined to track down the Nazi who used the Ability to torment him. In the course of his quest, he begins to uncover a series of deadly power struggles and intrigues that are rocking the secretive world of the mind vampires.