FICTION; Dark material makes for finely woven tales.(ENTERTAINMENT)(Book Review)

Byline: Cherie Parker

Special to the Star Tribune

Though not one of the five stages of grief identified by Dr. Elisabeth K[unkfc]bler-Ross, many bereaved pass through a disturbing mental phase usually kept unrevealed: The Time of the Morbid Thinking. This period is marked by obsessive thoughts of gruesome images connected to the death of the loved one; decomposition, for example. While most would choose to hide or suppress these thoughts, writer Christopher Coake has instead done something both alarming and amazing: He has taken his proximity to mortality's…