I think author Chuck Palahniuk should see a psychologist, if he doesn't already.

Because if the world is as grim as Palahniuk thinks it is, then we are all in trouble.

Palahniuk -- who many people know for his dark anti-commercial tirade Fight Club -- has a right to have a such an outlook; his grandparents and parents were both killed early in his life. Maybe this has affected his ability to write bright and cheery stories.

Palahniuk's latest novel, Lullaby, addresses such twisted topics as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the dangerous spread of noise and information, corporate scandals and necrophilia.

He mixes these themes into a macabre supernatural thriller that will be a perfect fit for the big screen.

Lullaby tells the tale of journalist Carl Streator, a man dealing with his own demons after his wife and child die suddenly. Streator, who is working on an assignment dealing with SIDS, finds a link among all the cases he is investigating -- the presence of an ancient African "culling song" that can be used to kill people.

Streator eventually finds out he can simply recite the "culling song" and use it to kill innocent people. Soon enough, he loses control of the power, even thinking the song causes people around him to die.

His journalistic senses lead him to another person that knows of the "culling song," Helen Hoover Boyle. Boyle is a realtor that specializes in selling haunted houses to distraught people and, as one later finds out, other disturbing services.

Helping Boyle sell these houses is her Wiccan secretary Mona and Mona's neo-hippie boyfriend Oyster.

Through a series of odd circumstances, these four end up travelling across the country, trying to destroy all copies of the "culling song."

The book is written in the first-person perspective of Streator, and sometimes I had a hard time identifying with him.

Palahniuk tried to make Streator an extremely hard-nosed journalist, but at times he seemed to lack feeling and empathy for any of the other characters.

The other characters were extreme stereotypes, with Mona and Oyster leading the pack. Mona, the typical do-good Wiccan, made Navajo dream catchers in the car and only wanted to keep peace among people. Oyster, on the other hand, was a nihilist who only believed in his views.

The character with the least explanation of actions was Boyle, which makes the book that much more intriguing, especially with how it ties in to its abrupt ending. If the reader saw Fight Club, he or she should know not to expect an ending that is clean-cut and goes without questioning.

Palahniuk's short choppy style, which created the effect he wanted to achieve, was sometimes a nuisance to read. This, coupled with his conspiracy theories, made for a paranoid feel throughout the novel.

But the book keeps the reader interested with its offbeat style, dark humor, and page-turning chapters.

All in all, the book was a fun read, but only if the reader enjoys the gross-out style of Palahniuk's work.