Blimpo: The Third Circle of Heck

Dale E. Basye

May 2010 · Heck Book 3 · Sold by Random House Books for Young Readers

About this ebook

With more clever, dark humor and zany silliness, Dale E. Basye sends Milton and Marlo Fauster back for thirds in another laugh-out-loud installment of the popular series Heck.

After his second escape from Bea "Elsa" Bubb, the Principal of Darkness, Milton Fauster makes his way to Blimpo—the circle of the otherworldly reform school, Heck, where he's sure his friend Virgil is sentenced. Virgil's only crime is being, well, plump. Milton has to wonder if that's really enough to justify eternal darnation. And what Milton finds in Blimpo horrifies him. The overweight dead kids spend most of their time running on giant human hamster wheels called DREADmills that detect and exploit their deepest fears. The rest they spend eating Hambone Hank's barbecue—mystery meat that is delicious, but suspiciously (to Milton, anyway) haunting. Every classroom has a huge TV screen showing happy thin people who taunt Blimpo residents with a perfection they will never attain.

Meanwhile, at her new job in the devil's Infernship program, Milton's sister, Marlo, knows all about trying to achieve perfection. And failing miserably. Can Milton get himself and Virgil out of Blimpo in time to rescue Marlo, too? Or is Fauster the next delicacy on Bea "Elsa" Bubb's menu?

About the author

DALE E. BASYE, a recovering journalist and advertising copywriter, has written his way out of many a tense situation. He was a film critic, winning several national awards, and studied neon sculpture in art school, which—puzzlingly—never resulted in a consistent income. Dale E. Basye once made a plaster cast of himself in class and passed out, awaking to find himself in class in a plaster cast.

Here's what Dale E. Basye has to say about his latest book:

"Take a heaping helping of boys and girls, soak them in pre-adolescence until their bodies are unrecognizable, then blend them together until all lumps of reason have been smoothed into self-consciousness. Bake at half the appropriate temperature until half-baked. Now throw the whole mess—and everyone's expectations—out the window and onto a group of smug authority figures. Serves: them right. Heck is like that. And, no matter what anyone tells you, Heck is real. This story is real. Or as real as anything like this can be."

Dale E. Basye lives in Portland, Oregon, inside of a giant rotating loaf of fiberglass bread. His spinning domicile provides him with an excellent vantage point from which to fight crime, though his principal foe tends to be debilitating vertigo.

Visit wherethebadkidsgo.com and Dale's blog at wherethebadkidsgo.wordpress.com to find out more.

BOB DOB draws inspiration from painter Edward Hopper, classic Disney, and Film Noir. He lives in Redondo Beach, California where he draws, paints, and drinks coffee all day. For more on Bob and his art, visit BobDob.com.