The Little Season by S.C. Mendes

Blood Bound Books, 2024

ISBN: 9798878808958

Available: Kindle edition

Buy:  Amazon.com

You have to give S.C. Mendes credit: in a genre that has some repetitive plotlines, he always comes up with an original one, and this is no exception.  It’s quite imaginative, and trying to figure out how it ends will keep the reader busy till the final pages.  There are enough questions on life in this one that it would actually make for a good choice for a horror book club discussion group.  The book isn’t shallow: it has some good depth to it.  There are some pretty nifty illustrations, too!

The protagonist, Jordan Carter, is one of those aimless sorts drifting through life, just hopscotching from one job to the next, with no real clear plan, other than trying to help take care of his ailing mother.  He finds an ad that seems like a godsend– get paid to eat one meal, (sponsored by a company called Talons) give reactions, and pocket $600, with the possibility of further meals.  His problems start with the horrible physical and mental reactions he has to the meal, but the possibility of money is too good to turn down.  It becomes a mystery, with Jordan trying to find out why the food causes such odd reactions.

That’s where the story really hits its stride, since there are a few competing ideas as to why the meals cause reactions.  Jordan’s New Age, mystic, neighbor, Michelle, has a theory; the occult doctor in the story has another; and of course, there is the actual reason behind Talons, which the reader will get eventually.  This is a good example of combining a few different ideas into one new one, with parts of all included.  Most people have heard the idea of ‘good karma’ and ‘bad karma’: most people know that everything is made of atoms that vibrate under certain stimuli; and, most people have heard of demons and angels.  What Mendes has done is combine seemingly disparate ideas into one that makes perfect sense for a fiction story, and tied that in to a new definition of what exactly sin is, and why bad things happen in the world.  It’s a good amount of material to ponder over in a 150 page book, and it certainly holds your attention until the end.  Surprisingly, this actually has a sort of happy ending, not something usually found in a Mendes book!  The whole book is a strong contrast in light and shade, in terms of the characters.  None of them are really bad people, but they aren’t saints either.  They are what they seem to be– realistic people, each with there own strengths and flaws.

The bottom line is, this is quite good, and won’t bottom you out, like the author’s masterpiece The City did.  For readers of this book: for a bonus, try finding the Easter egg hidden in there referencing Mendes’s fellow author Lucy Leitner.  It’s well hidden, but it’s there.

Recommended.

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson