“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