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Book Review: The Changeling by Victor Lavalle

The Changeling by Victor Lavalle

Spiegel & Grau, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-0812995947

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook.

 

 

There are few horror authors who get the reader to sit back in awe of their pure storytelling, using language that flows in an enthralling, dark manner. Victor LaValle ranks near the top of the list. Sit down with The Changeling, and be warned that the hours will disappear. The novel is a masterful reworking of a dark fairy tale, but reads like it’s entirely original.

Apollo Kagwa’s father left many years ago, leaving behind only a box of memories labeled IMPROBABILIA. Now Apollo has his own family, but the odyssey has already begun. When his wife, Emma, leaves following the birth of their son, after committing a terrible act, Apollo finds himself on his own hero’s journey. This story is more like Homer’s tale than anything Grimm put to paper, but the Gaiman-esque conversational voice that LaValle wields pulls the reader along the journey with him to strange places, meeting even stranger people. What Apollo discovers is both breathtaking and heartbreaking, a rarity in the genre. Each chapter is a mirror Lavalle uses to reflect us so we can see ourselves: the good, the bad, and the just plain awful. The characters, all of them, have been deftly drawn, with compassion, then dragged through horrors in a way reminiscent of Stephen King, although it’s entirely Lavalle’s own. Apollo and Emma’s tale is one worth telling, and should be savored, even though it is tough to slow down.

Do yourself a favor and pick up The Changeling. The subtlety may be lost on those expecting pure horror, but for those who want more than the standard fare, you will be highly rewarded. Once you’ve finished with it, be sure to look for Lavalle’s previous works, The Ballad of Black Tom and The Devil in Silver.   Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

 

 

 

 

Posted on November 30, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Bloody Kids by Andrew Holmes

Bloody Kids by Andrew Holmes

Sasquatch Books, 2017

ASIN: B078437KK2

Available: Kindle edition

 

Bloody Kids by Andrew Holmes is a gory thriller about a rural English town that is rotten to its core.  A rich farmer controls the town and most of its inhabitants, including the police, much as lords of the manor did in medieval England.  He entertains and controls many of the village men with annual hunting bacchanals and a clandestine brothel at the Lizard Farm.  A sadistic widow runs the Farm and is the madam for comely ‘cleaning women’.  She physically and psychologically abuses her orphaned or abandoned ‘foster children’, who work the Farm.

 

Things begin to go awry when the widow becomes demented, and loses control over the once-cowed children.  As they take control of the Farm, their base instincts come to the fore.  Think of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.  The children begin to abuse and torture the prostitutes.

 

The rich farmer’s son-in-law takes his young son on a winter picnic in a field near the Farm, and the boy disappears.  An intensive search leads nowhere, and a local veteran Detective Inspector is ordered to investigate.

 

It’s a tangled web.  The DI has had a midlife crisis and an affair with a hostess-prostitute at the bacchanals, who is also the nanny/cleaning woman for the children.  Although she ends the affair, she still communicates with the DI by cell phone, until the boy disappears.

 

A boy’s body is found in a gravel pit.  It seems that no one is innocent.  Mutilations (yes, even with a chainsaw), torture, and murder, crescendo to a gory, blazing denouement on a bone-chilling, snowy night.  As in a morality play, most of the malefactors get their just deserts.

 

The story is fast-paced, and keeps the reader engaged.  Setting his story in England, Holmes treats the reader to many English colloquialisms, such as “twee” (quaint), “gutted” (upset) and “gob” (spit, mouth).  Holmes has written many other action/adventure/fantasy/horror novels under the pseudonyms Oliver Bowden and A. E. Moorat.

 

Recommended for teens and adults

 

Contains: violence, gore and sex

Reviewed by Robert D. Yee

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on November 29, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Subhuman: A Unit 51 Novel by Michael McBride

Subhuman: A Unit 51 Novel by Michael McBride

Pinnacle, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-0786041589

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook, audio CD

Subhuman is the first book in a new series, Unit 51, and if the signs are correct, this will be one of the most exciting thriller/horror series in several years. Imagine Michael Crichton and F. Paul Wilson teaming up to write “The Thing”, and you’ll have an idea of what Michael McBride has accomplished in this book. This entertaining story with tons of fascinating science and history takes the reader on an exhilirating ride through the thrilling plot, with plenty of adventure and horror.

Five of the top scientists in the world have been are invited to investigate something strange in Antarctica. A billionaire has built a research facility  that has broken through the ice, and discovered something that will change both the past and future. Strange, misshapen skulls have been found all over the globe, and clues have pointed to an ancient race that may signal explanations for many of the mysteries which have plagued mankind for thousands of years. The scientists find the remains of a long-lost civilization under the surface, and later, when microbes are examined, the scientists find that some of the race from the lost civilization  may not be completely extinct. The cells under the microscope fight death, and may shatter conspiracy theories everywhere.

It will be great to see where this series goes next as, while the science can be heavy at times, it never overwhelms, and the action scenes breeze by with skill. Subhuman doesn’t skimp on anything that makes a thriller thrill and has just the right amount of horror. A great mix of genres that will keep fans awake late at night, and frustrated that the ride is over too quickly. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

 

 

Posted on November 17, 2017 by , Reply
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