“A Song Of Stone“

by Iain Banks

Format: Paperback, pages 280

Publisher; Abacus 1997

Its amazing what you can pick up at your local Tesco’s these days, there I was loading copious quantities of life’s necessities into the trolley (along with some proper food) when I noticed the racks of Iain Banks books with the none too subtle price stickers (£5) emblazoned on the front. No Iain M titles unfortunately but most of the non-M titles (and a few choice cuts by a Mr S. King, 2 for £3, reviews to follow).

Having read about half his non-m titles I couldn’t resist picking up a couple of bargains (The Bridge was the other purchase) and I’m glad I did. This is a book I have often thought of buying but the reviews I have read have been mixed to scathing (9 out of 34 one star reviews on Amazon) so it was with some trepidation that I started to read.

I also hadn’t expected to be reviewing this book here, whilst I have never made any firm rules, this site does try to focus on genre fiction of the fantasy, horror, SF variety, it was with some surpise that I realised this book probably fits as well into any of those categories as most of the others I have reviewed and better than some.

The setting is an unknown/unnamed war between unknown/unnamed armies, a war of untold horrors in a dystopian world of ugliness and corruption. Our narrator, Abel, is an anachronism, a lover of culture a remnant of the ruling class and the owner of a castle, forced to flee into the surrounding horrors until captured and returned to the castle, the decay and abuse of society is reflected in his captors treatment of the castle.

The interaction between the main characters of Abel, his lover Morgan and captor, the Lieutenant (Loot) are fascinating and complex. At times we feel empathy for Abel at others the lieutenant and at others nobody. The sheer horrors committed and the betrayals enacted force us to time and again question the characters mindset. The fact that our main narrator is such a complex and at times unlikeable character makes the book uncomfortable to read and this coupled with the lack of backstory or rationale for the atrocities being committed leaves the reader constantly swaying in their interaction with the characters. This complexity increases as the book moves to its dark and horrific climax.

The writing is some of Banks’ best, dark and complex, layered and structured and yet easily readable and at times a bit of a page turner. In style and tone this seemed to me quite similar to “Inversions” (the follow up Iain M Banks title) and the surreal fantasy of that world is prefaced here, albeit in even darker hues. It may be too extreme to see the book as some sort of religious parable but a horrific crucifixion is included and there are other biblical references which imply that Bank’s was possibly focusing on religious as well as class issues, the chaos they have caused in our own society is multiplied and caricatured here, but never overtly.

So if you like a bit of pessimistic, dystopian, dark fantasy, something along the lines of the recent film adaptation of “Children Of Men” then I think you will like this book. It has none of the lighter moments of the culture books and is not a “nice” book  (hence the one star reviews probably) but it stands out as an example of Banks’ ability to cross and mix genres and come up with something compelling, memorable and original and lets face it who wouldn’t prefer that to merely nice. In short if you like Ian M Banks (expecially Inversions) I think you will like this book, dont be scared off by negative reviews, you heard it here first (albeit 10 years later) this is an excellent Banks novel, feel free to take a pen and add the M to the cover page yourself if it makes you feel better, just make sure you give this a go.

Rating 4 out of 5

“The Execution Channel“

by Ken MacLeod

Format: Paperback, 370 pages.

Publisher: Orbit 2007.

Ken MacLeod is one of the most popular and respected (at least in my house) writers of science fiction around. His latest novel “The Night Sessions” is pure SF and you can find out more about it here or here. I have always been intrigued by Ken’s politics, which have been the basis for many of his works, and the subject of frequent blogs (see here). I was intrigued, therefore, when Ken published “The Execution Channel” which to all intents is actually a political/techno thriller and a very good one at that.

Set in an alternative now, where Al Gore beat Dubia and consequently the current mess of world politics we find ourselves in is considerably worse. Now that’s enough to get a lot of people’s backs up, the insinuation that anybody could have done things worse than Bush is a strong statement but MacLeod explains the decisions and compromises which Gore would have had to make, and speculates scarily on the potential outcomes. No spoilers here, as usual, but the book is frighteningly real, both in terms of it’s vision of the disasters that befell Gore’s policies but also its relationship to real world events (e.g. Iran) which are still developing now.

So it’s a scary unsettled world into which we are dropped to observe the lives of the Travis family. James is a software engineer, Roisin (his daughter) is a peace activist and Alec (his son) is serving with the British army in Kazakhstan. It soon gets even scarier as Roisin witnesses what appears to be a nuclear explosion at the Rosyth naval base just outside Edinburgh, Scotland. Given surveillance fears and big brother style monitoring, the Travis family are able to keep in contact using some clever spy techniques and along with blogger Mark Dark attempt to find out what is going on. All the time various governments and black ops units are trying to catch the lot of them and the Execution Channel is on screen to remind them of the possible consequences.

Now Its not possible to explain much more of the plot without spoilers, suffice to say this is one of the most complex, clever and spectacularly interwoven plots I have read since I put down Le Carre’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”. It takes some effort to keep up with the constant movement of information and disinformation but it’s fascinating stuff and written really well. What could have been a dry, political treatise  becomes a cutting edge thriller. MacLeod makes his points forcefully but never at the expense of the story. And so it goes with twist and counter twist, spy v counter spy, nations v nations until we reach a climax (of sorts).

The end of the novel is the final twist and believe me it’s more twisty than a sack full of Chinese gymnasts, you will either love it or hate it, unless you are me (which I hope for your sake you are not) in which case you will read it in full jaw dropped silence thinking “what just happened?” and make occasional wibble noises.

To my mind this is no more Science Fiction than the latest edition of “Hello” but I don’t mind, sure call it speculative fiction but don’t pigeonhole it into a single genre. This book deserves to be read widely by all those with a voting system and expresses political views with the sort of subtlety that Michael Moore could only dream about, you might not agree with these views but you must surely believe that something has to be done to stop this alternative reality becoming an actuality (and it seems like it could still happen).

Well done to Ken MacLeod for having the guts to try something new, whether this will become a regular thing (like his countryman, a certain Mr I. Banks) we will need to wait and see, but I for one, think there is plenty of room for intelligent well written, edgy thrillers, regardless of what genre you pigeonhole them into and there are few thrillers as edgy and well written as this one.

Rating 4 out of 5

“Fantasy & Science Fiction”

Ed by Gordon Van Gelder

Format: Paperback, 242 Pages

Oct/Nov 2008 Issue

Congratulations to Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine on their 59th Anniversary Issue, that’s right 60 years of publishing which adds up to 1000’s of speculative fiction short stories and articles. This issue is an all-star anniversary Issue and I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy. This is a magazine which I have read occasionally in the past, it’s often hard to find in the UK (as are most speculative fiction mags) but on the basis of this copy it’s well worth seeking out (of course you can make life easy by subscribing here).

The first thing that strikes you is the excellent cover image “New Beginning” by Max Bertolini, it may be called new beginning but to me it epitomises the traditions of SF, harking back to the best of Astounding Stories and the likes but without being old fashioned, much like the entire magazine as it turns out.

The content is the usual mix of short stories (14 of them), book reviews and news along with movie reviews and an excellent science article (Rocks In Space) and all this for the $5.99 cover price. Of course, as with any short story collection there is going to be variation in quality, genre, length and style and this is no exception and of course your preference will undoubtedly be different from mine but I can almost guarantee there will be something here you will like, the range is so broad I can’t believe any speculative fiction fan wouldn’t find something that would delight them here.

My favourites ranged from “Inside Story” by Albert E. Cowdrey which somehow managed to combine the pathos of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath with an excellent and in places very funny mystery tale. “Private Eye” by Terry Bisson a risque love story with a twist was intriguing and “Sleepless Years” by Steven Utley absorbing. These reflect my taste to some extent being more traditional but for way out experimental speculative fiction try “Days of Wonder” by Geoff Ryman or ”Dazzle Joins The Screenwriters Guild” by Scott Bradfield both of which are bizarre reading experiences but memorable ones!

Of course there is one name here that will probably sell loads of copies of the magazine all on it’s own, yes folks the master… Robert Reed! Oh and there is some guy called Stephen King in there who’s story, “The New York Times At Special Bargain Rates” suggests he might have some talent for writing.

So congratulation to F&SF on reaching this milestone and may they continue to expand all our horizons for years to come, on the evidence of this issue both in terms of quality and variety (not to mention sheer volume) the magazine has a bright future and at least one new subscriber.

Rating 4 out of 5

“In A Glass Darkly“

By Sheridan Le Fanu

Format: Paperback, 272 pages.

Publisher: Wordsworth Editions, 2007.

What are the chances of two horror novels being reviewed in the space of a couple of weeks with titles based on 1 Corinthians 13 (”For now we see through a glass, darkly”), kind of slim, but that’s the kind of joined up thinking you get at Highlanders Book Reviews (or pure jammy fluke as they say round these parts!). Perhaps what’s more fascinating is that without Sheridan Le Fanu’s misquote it is highly unlikely that we would have ever arrived at Bill Hussey’s Through A Glass Darkly (review here) despite the 136 year gap, let me explain.

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer who, during the 19th C, was one of the founders of the written ghost story. For a more detailed biography have a look here or here but bear in mind this was a writer who directly influenced both M.R. James (master Victorian Ghost story writer) and Bram Stoker (more on vampires shortly!). This was a contemporary of Dickens, Browning, The Brontes and Stevenson who has largely been forgotten by the wider public so it’s great to see this collection back in print (raises glass to Wordsworth Editions yet again!).

In A Glass Darkly is a collection of 5 stories, each with a different supernatural bent but all loosely connected by the patient notes of a certain Dr Heselius who tries to explain the cases, generally using fairly bizarre pyschopathology. The stories are as follows :-

• Green Tea - About…..well, green tea really, oh and a monkey of course!
• The Familiar - A ghost from the past, Jacob Marley style.
• Mr Justice Harbottle - Payback time for the hanging judge.
• The Room In Le Dragon Volant - No dragons but a sting in the tail.
• Carmilla - An everyday story of lesbian vampirism!

So, as you can see a wide range of stories, some of which work better than others. The Room In Le Dragon Volant is perhaps the least successful and also the least supernatural, It’s also the longest. The Familiar and Mr Justice Harbottle are the most traditional and Green Tea is frankly just a bit mad. The true standout for me however is Carmilla, the story which is thought to have inspired Stoker to write Dracula and which also inspired the Hammer films The Vampire Lovers (based directly on the story) and it’s sequels Lust For A Vampire and Twins Of Evil (thank you Mr Le Fanu!). The descriptive writing in this passage is superb :-

" The glade through which we had just walked lay before us.
At our left the narrow road wound away under clumps of
lordly trees, and was lost to sight amid the thickening
forest.  At the right the same road crosses the steep and
picturesque bridge, near which stands a ruined tower which
once guarded that pass; and beyond the bridge an abrupt
eminence rises, covered with trees, and showing in the
shadow some grey ivy-clustered rocks.

  Over the sward and low grounds a thin film of mist was
stealing like smoke, marking the distances with a
transparent veil; and here and there we could see the river
faintly flashing in the moonlight.

  No softer, sweeter scene could be imagined.  The news I
had just heard made it melancholy; but nothing could disturb
its character of profound serenity, and the enchanted glory
and vagueness of the prospect. "

Of course It’s not all like that, the writing is often of the stilted and dense style which we associate with Victorian literature and as such can often be hard work (I wouldn’t recommend this as bedtime reading) but that comes with the territory for writing that is 140 years old, stick with it and you will be rewarded with  a glimpse of the very foundations of the modern horror story.

Rating 3 out of 5

P.S. You may find a different cover on the new editions of this collection at Wordsworth Edition Have updated it with a slightly more Gothic, slightly less cross-eyed owl as shown below :-

“Mars Life“

by Ben Bova

Format; Hardback, 432 pages.

Publisher: Tor, 2008.

Mars Life is the latest addition to Ben Bova’s Grand tour series which portrays a realistic (or at least a best guess based on current science) look at the potential human colonisation of the solar system. Indeed so realistic is this portrayal that it hardly seems like fiction at all. In many ways this is not so much science fiction as science and fiction a portrayal of the likely events based on currently existing technologies with only a few speculative guesses.

This book continues the story of the colonisation/exploration of mars first begun in “Mars” and “Return To Mars” so the characters and backstory have already been created but it would still be possible to enjoy this as a standalone novel. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book then, is its portrayal of earth politics and in particular the rise of religious fundamentalism as a political power. Now, lets get this clear straight away, for fans of space opera, pulp SF or modern imaginative and hard SF this might be deathly dull and overly simplistic, for fans of Clarke, Asimov etc it’s more like a return to a style rarely seen these days. Simplistic dialogue, stereotypical characters and a straightforward plot based on problem solving are hallmarks of this style and yet it is a style that has endured almost as long as SF itself, why is that? I am a fan of Asimov’s foundation series, a series still being reprinted after 57 years despite the fact that the writing style, characterisation and even plot have all been criticised. Likewise Clarke’s novels share many of these criticisms but are considered genre classics. In Clarke and Asimov we had scientists who were trying to write plausible ideas in a way which would be popular and accessible to all and to me, this is why their work endures and why I think Ben Bova is a natural successor to their crown.

The plot centres around the attempts to carry on an exploration of martian archaeology (yes the existence of martian life is this books one big break from reality) faced with ever more criticism and funding restrictions from an earth crippled by the repercussions of global warming, crime-waves and global terrorism, not to mention the rise of “New Morality” as a political force. The martian explorers do have adventures but these are of an everyday (albeit martian) nature, which keep the plot ticking over nicely. That is one of the books strengths, despite a lack of “action”, “radical ideas”, or “big theories” this book is easily read and did hold my interest throughout. At no point did I feel bored or disappointed instead I felt I was being subtly educated and entertained (edutainment anybody?) although you could argue that some of the political views were less subtly put.

I think within SF there is room for this style of book, indeed in order to crossover and gain acceptance from a wider audience accessible SF is a requirement and whilst this may seem weak and unimaginative to the genre devotee, it is likely to be firmly accepted by the (millions of) fans of Clancy or Cussler and their ilk. So Bova has managed to create an intriguing book balancing politics, science and adventure in an accessible, enjoyable and realistic manner, no easy task.

Rating 3 out of 5

“ Read By Dawn, Volume 3“

Edited by Adele Hartley

Format: Paperback, 246 pages

Publisher : Bloody Books, 2008

One of my formative experiences in becoming a fan of horror fiction was the annual delight of the Pan Book of Horror Stories (for a wee bit of history on this fantastic collection and a glimpse at it’s gory covers have a look here). For a short period in the sixties and seventies this established itself as an outstanding collection of new and published authors and I for one have sadly missed it. It’s great therefore to see a new name as a contender for the Pan crown, that name, Read By Dawn.

This collection, now in its 3rd year, was established to tie in with “Dead by Dawn” the Edinburgh Horror film festival (details here). The film festival has firmly established itself as Scotland’s premier horror film festival since it’s inception in 1993.

Read By Dawn Vol 3 is a collection of 28 short stories by new and published authors and whilst it lacks any really big names it doesn’t suffer as a result. The quality of the stories throughout is top notch and the selection covers just about every gory crevice of the horror genre’s warped and twisted mind you could think of.

As always with a range of stories this diverse, favourites will vary, but just to mention a few of my own:-

• Sonny Boy by Vanessa H Reid - The story of a gruesome family reunion.
• What Will Happen When You are Gone by Jeffory Jacobsen - Watch out for cats next time you are house hunting
• In The Cinema Tree With Orbiting Heads by Kek-W - Simply bizarre story about living in a tree.
• The Devil’s Tavern by Alison J. Littlewood - Classic revenge ghost story.
• Tinsel by Fraser Lee - A slightly different Christmas story.

These are just a few highlights from this excellent collection. Given the diversity of stories on offer ranging from gore to gothic and supernatural to sexy, I have no doubt that your selection of highlights may differ, but I am sure that you will agree, that in terms of overall quality there can be few collections that are as good as this one in the horror genre today. With 28 stories on offer and nearly as many contributing authors I fully expected to be disappointed by at least some of these stories but I can honestly say I enjoyed every single one. Editor Adele Hartley has done a superb job in creating a collection as consistent and entertaining as this one whilst ensuring the full range of tastes is catered for.

Here’s hoping Dead by Dawn’s success and festival curator Adele Hartley’s excellent efforts to compile a definitive annual collection of new horror short stories meet with the success they deserve and can establish Read by Dawn as a worthy successor to the Pan collection. I for one will be looking forward to next years efforts, and the next, and the next…..

Rating 4 out of 5

“The Right Hand Of Doom & Other Tales Of Solomon Kane“

By R. Howard

Format: Paperback, 208 pages.

Publisher : Wordsworth Editions, 2007

Solomon Kane is one of the least known and strangest of Robert E Howard’s characters and that makes him to my mind one of the most fascinating. This collection of 10 short stories and 3 poems will shed some light on Solomon Kane but as outlined by M.J.Elliot in the excellent introduction, Kane will always remain an enigma. He is shortly, however, going to become a much better known enigma as a trilogy of movies are currently in production. You can get a good introduction to the character (and the movies) from the director Michael Basset here. You can also see a short film made of one of the poems in this collection “The Return Of Sir Richard Grenville” here.

Essentially Kane is a puritan who roams the land in the 17th century, actively seeking out adventures and generally taking on all comers. He dishes out vengeance with sword, rapier and pistol and no sinner is safe from his wrath. Describing himself as a “fulfiller of Judgement” or a “vessel for gods wrath” it is clear that religion has a major part to play in his life but at one stage he is even said to have pagan tendencies and certainly seems to have little of the compassion or mercy associated with his religion.

This intense hatred for all things dark and occult leads Kane to many confrontations and whilst his motivation is never explained, his fundamentalism is clearly a major factor. It will be interesting to see how the films create a new backstory to explain Kane’s zealous attitude.

These tales however were less concerned with character motivation than creating good adventure stories. Many appeared in the Weird Tales issues in the late twenties and early thirties and have all the pulp requirements of foreign adventure, nasty bad guys and a bit of bodice ripping (although Kane clearly doesn’t indulge in any of that nonsense!).

The tales range from pure ghost stories in “Skulls In The Stars” and “Rattle Of Bones” to Indiana Jones style adventure in “The Moon Of Skulls”. A few are quite bizarre such as ” Wings in the Night” and there is a marvellous voodoo versus vampire tale in “The Hills Of the Dead”.

If they have a flaw, and a few do, it’s in the style of the writing and particularly the dialogue. Howard attempts to recreate the 17th century dialogue of a Devonian Puritan which comes across as a biblical pirate! Howard may well have achieved accuracy (it was a bit before my time) but the stilted dialogue does not help the flow of the stories. The tenth story is only a fragment “Deaths Black Riders” of what sounds like a fascinating idea.

I don’t believe this collection has the depth or overall quality of the other Howard collection “The Haunter Of The Ring” which I reviewed here but Solomon Kane is such an interesting character it is definitely worth a read and as always with Wordsworth Editions the price is hardly likely to put you off. So impress your friends before the film comes out and explore the mysterious life of Solomon Kane for yourself.

Rating 3 out of 5

“Through A Glass, Darkly”

by Bill Hussey

Format: Paperback, 440 pages

Publisher: Bloody Books

With the spate of excellent first novels I have recently reviewed here including names such as Joe Abercrombie, Adam L G Neville and Scott Sigler (not to mention Joe Hill’s fantastic first short story collection) it would hardly be surprising if the latest debut novelist, to cross my path, failed to reach that same high standard. What is amazing then is that not only has Bill Hussey reached the quality of the other debut authors mentioned but if anything, he has surpassed them. In each of these previous novels I have picked out what I thought was the defining feature which made it a stand out, so with Abercrombie it was solid, interesting characters with Neville it was his sense of place and with Sigler it was his visceral horror. Bill Hussey somehow manages to include all these elements with an incredibly, thrilling, horrific, ingenious and intriguing plot, for an established writer it would be an achievement for a debut it is astonishing.

Jack Trent and Dawn Howard are CID officers and former lovers who are put back together to investigate a case of child disappearance. Jack, however is no ordinary police officer, following childhood traumas he is now subject to visions, dreams and other feelings which he doesn’t understand. The pair head off to Crow Haven (an “unquiet place”, “existing in a vacuum”) a marvellously described, off the map, village and are soon embroiled in a mystery that threatens not just their lives but the very foundations of good versus evil.

One of the stories strengths is the plotting and the different layers that are found within. There are plotlines involving relationships between partners, parents and children, within the police service and within the Church. Plotlines examining the nature of evil, child abuse, the occult, the meaning of faith. All tied up in a race against the clock to stop the evil which permeates Crow Haven.

The town of Crow Haven and the (for want of a better word) bad guy - the crowman are fantastically drawn. Who isn’t unnerved by scarecrows (second only to clowns) but this crowman is no scarecrow come to life he is much darker than that and the attendant crows representing that darkness create an embodiment of evil which you can almost smell. The Priest, Asher Brody, should be a hero but his past mistakes have led, at least in part, to the current tragedy so he is a flawed hero. Trent himself has a duality which is unnerving, there are certainly no clean cut hero’s here. Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the library, but that’s a whole book in itself.

The entire story is drawn together by an ancient occult text “The Transmigration Of Souls” and Bill Hussey has put a lot of work into the backstory of this text as well as it’s influence on the various characters. Some of this backstory is told in a form that reads almost like an old gothic ghost story adding yet another layer to the levels of the book. The only flaw I can find, in fact, is the introduction of important parts of this backstory two thirds of the way into the book, this does cause the pace to slow from what was a roaring steam train up to that point, but the slowdown is only temporary. Its straight into the station to pick up some new information then shovel on the horror to get back to top speed.

So Bill Hussey has done a remarkable job. He has created a frenetic thriller, a dark occult mystery, a love story and a no-holds barred, teeth clenching horror story. Each on it’s own would have been an achievement put them all together and you have a standout. If there was any justice in the world this would be a bestseller mixing with the likes of Stephen King and Dean Koontz in the charts. I am really looking forward to seeing how Bill Hussey is going to improve on the quality of “Through A Glass, Darkly” but then he doesn’t really have to, just keep more of the same coming and I’ll be happy.

In short if you like horror buy this, if you like thrillers buy this, if you like gothic ghost stories buy this, in fact, tell you what, if you just like books, buy this!

Rating 4.5 out of 5

“Unnatural History”

by Jonathan Green

Format: Paperback, 336 pages

Publisher: Abaddon Books

Take some generic steampunk, add in some Sherlock Holmes, and a dash of dinosaur and mix well. Simmer over a low heat before mixing in a couple of evil villains and a dash of cartoon violence before finally garnishing with a couple of chase scenes and some heaving bosoms. Should be enjoyed as a light starter which can (and probably will be reheated). Excuse me for being flippant but this book does feel like it has been put together using a check-list (or shopping list). I don’t mean to suggest that this is necessarily a negative thing after all even the best writers (or is that chefs, this analogy has gone too far!!) need certain key ingredients. It’s just that this book sticks to the recipe (I can’t believe its still going on!) at the expense of just that little bit of flair.

Book 1 in the Pax Britannia series (details here) is set on an alternative Earth. On the earth of Pax Britannia it’s 1997 and Queen Victoria still reigns (she is about to celebrate her 160th anniversary), the difference or analytical engine has transformed the world. Robot policeman roam the streets, Zeppelins rule the sky and steam and gears are state of the art technologies so its typical steampunk stuff, Victorian morals mixed with new science.

Into this world steps dandy and rogue, Ulysees Quicksilver (think Sherlock Holmes mixed with Raffles) engaged by the British Government to investigate the disappearance of an eminent professor. Supported by his seemingly indestructible butler Nimrod, the pair set out to discover the truth. Unfortunately arch enemy and all round scoundrel Jago Kane also appears leading a group of terrorists and the plot, as they say, thickens.

With the lack of swearing, no sex (apart from the aforementioned heaving bosoms) and generally cartoon violence the book has a comic book (not graphic novel) feel. Its perhaps not surprising therefore to find out that Abaddon is an imprint of Rebellion, creators of 2000AD. It certainly feels like a prose comic with larger than life characters and a fairly simplistic plot, a typical boys own adventure in fact. indeed the film that kept springing to mind whilst reading this novel was Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow which had that same comic book/pulp hero feel.

Given these facts its fair to say that I am perhaps not the demographic this book is aimed at ( I would imagine it’s targeted at young adults rather than old duffers!) but even so I enjoyed it. there were a couple of really good descriptive passages including one iconic image of Jago Kane standing on the rubble of a recently destroyed railway bridge surveying the city below which reminded me of the recent Dark Knight posters. Its well enough written and the series could certainly expand in some interesting directions. It’s not testing, it’s easily read and most importantly it’s fun. So avail yourself of a copy my good man (or dear lady) and beware for the game’s afoot!

Rating 3 out of 5

“Infected”

by Scott Sigler

Format : Paperback, 450 pages

Publisher : Hodder

To my mind there are two types of horror novel, the gently simmering implied threat novel and the fully boiled gore-fest novel. You should note, then, that in this novel Scott Sigler has not only turned up the heat, he has potentially created a whole new temperature, this is off the scale.

Sigler’s website gives you some clues that he’s not the shy retiring type but I suppose it’s that same sheer self belief that has seen him triumph from a struggling rejected writer to “podcast king” (see this article) . It’s a real success story and now Sigler has finally reached the big time with a good old paper book but is it any good?

There is nothing subtle about Infected, the plot is derivative, the characters generic and the dialogue crude and basic but when you are going for the jugular subtlety isn’t required, or even welcome. Certainly, it’s a long time since I have read the raw, visceral, gory detail that is present here. In the same way that “torture porn” is creating a cinema genre which is pushing taste boundaries to the limit (and beyond), Sigler seems to be doing the same for print. We may be used to the likes of Shaun Hutson or early James Herbert making us feel slightly queasy but Sigler takes it to a whole new level, honestly this is buttock clenching, eye watering stuff.

A parasite is infecting people causing a violent (make that extremely violent) reaction. The story switches neatly and succinctly between the CIA black ops team, the scientists and a victim Perry Dawsey, the best drawn of all the characters. All are trying to find out what is going on as succession of bizarre suicides/murders are found. Perry just wants to stop that annoying itch…. Another neat plot line is a description of the parasites growth interspersed between the action which helps us to believe the plot by using biology (well it had me fooled). The chapters are short and the writing well paced, the characters are believable if a bit stereotypical and the plot is far fetched and bizarre but this isn’t a documentary (thank God).

By far the book’s single biggest notable feature is the gore. Without doubt Sigler has the ability to shock at a most basic level, there is not a man (yes I do mean, man) on earth who would not feel the pain when a pair of scissors is used for a spot of mildly invasive surgery towards the end of the book (one reason why this would never make it to the big screen!) and this is at a point where as a reader you didn’t think it could get any more gory!

Now I’m a big fan of subtlety in horror, I think implied threat can be more frightening than exposition and that is borne out here. This novel doesn’t scare but it does shock. As a horror novel it’s not that successful as a shocker/thriller it works. I am not going to get all superior here, sure there are novels that can take you to a higher plane, novels that you will never forgot, this isn’t one of them but equally there are novels which exist simply to entertain, nothing more nothing less, and this is as entertaining as a  thrill filled roller-coaster ride through a tunnel of razorblades, sometimes that kind of raw excitement is just what you need. So believe the hype, Sigler may not be a horror genius (yet) but he sure as hell is one sick puppy who has the potential to become the horror genres very own Rottweiler.

Rating 4 out of 5