IT is a saga that begins with the Huns sweeping through Mongolia and closes with a Mormon in the Las Vegas desert.

It is a surefire crowd pleaser. It is a guaranteed moneymaker. It is a non-existent TV mini-series.

The Diviners is the name of a script made up on the spur of the moment by a PA under pressure from her hot-headed indie film company boss. Within hours, agents, networks, actresses and PR gurus are hailing the unwritten tale as the next big TV phenomenon.

The Diviners is also the name of Rick Moody's richly detailed, intricately layered book about pointless ambition and the tyranny of showbiz.

By interweaving the overlapping stories of a Sikh cab driver, a bi-polar bicycle messenger, a PR duo who know everyone but know nothing, a thriller writer who hosts botox parties and a supreme court justice who hankers after a career on the small screen, he creates a cautionary tale on a blockbuster scale.

This is a big book with big themes, similar in tone and tenacity to the work of Tom Wolfe or Don Delillo. It's bold and difficult, but worth the effort.

Updated: 16:07 Friday, February 17, 2006