Jude (Judas) Coyne (Justin Cowzynski)

Judas Coyne – referred to as Jude throughout the story – is a 54 year old heavy metal music legend and the main character in the novel. Jude has been at the top of the heavy metal music world since leaving his abusive father’s hog farm in Louisiana and changing his name from Justin Cowzynski to Judas Coyne over thirty years before the story begins. Jude has been in semi-retirement for the last several years following the death of two members of his band – Jude’s Hammer – and the break-up of his marriage. Jude lives in a large farmhouse in Piecliff, New York with his 23-year-old girlfriend Georgia (whose real name is Marybeth Kimball) and his two German shepherds, Angus and Bon. Georgia is the latest in a succession of young “Goth” girlfriends, and at the start of the novel Jude views his relationship with her...