Gary MacMahon's Dead Bad Things (Angry Robot)
I took a long lunch and read an Angry Robot book during it. I thought I should report back immediately, since the last two books I read I took notes and haven't actually reported on. Next week I may try to find the notes and be more caught up.
Gary McMahon's Dead Bad Things is a quick read. This is just as well, because it's also a nasty read. Oddly, the end isn't as emotionally tough as the beginning - it's as if McMahon puts all the foulest things upfront and softens them (not a lot) to reach a conclusion. It's not quite as tight as Pretty Little Dead Things, but it's still a very tense, very nasty horror novel and I read it quickly and this afternoon so that - just like his previous novel - I wouldn't have to carry it to bed.
The world building works best when it's focussed on the characters. His characters are convincing, even some of the ugliest. There is a bit of repetition in motives, so by the end I was wondering just how many personality types peopled his world, but it worked in the context of the novel, reinforcing the themes and making MacMahon's universe a place I don't want to even be seen near. What I liked particularly was that despite the speed of the narrative and the lack of backchat and private lives, he did manage to get this sense of character and a nice sense of the world actually existing. One reason I don't read much horror of this sort is because not nearly enough writers remember to ground their horror in enough of the everyday so that the reader can feel it. MacMahon succeeds very nicely in this, using very few words.
And now, having scared myself silly, I shall return to the land of SF criticism.
Gary McMahon's Dead Bad Things is a quick read. This is just as well, because it's also a nasty read. Oddly, the end isn't as emotionally tough as the beginning - it's as if McMahon puts all the foulest things upfront and softens them (not a lot) to reach a conclusion. It's not quite as tight as Pretty Little Dead Things, but it's still a very tense, very nasty horror novel and I read it quickly and this afternoon so that - just like his previous novel - I wouldn't have to carry it to bed.
The world building works best when it's focussed on the characters. His characters are convincing, even some of the ugliest. There is a bit of repetition in motives, so by the end I was wondering just how many personality types peopled his world, but it worked in the context of the novel, reinforcing the themes and making MacMahon's universe a place I don't want to even be seen near. What I liked particularly was that despite the speed of the narrative and the lack of backchat and private lives, he did manage to get this sense of character and a nice sense of the world actually existing. One reason I don't read much horror of this sort is because not nearly enough writers remember to ground their horror in enough of the everyday so that the reader can feel it. MacMahon succeeds very nicely in this, using very few words.
And now, having scared myself silly, I shall return to the land of SF criticism.
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