REVIEW: A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons
A Mask of Flies is the latest horror novel from author Matthew Lyons, and it is as terrifying as it is gripping. The book has its brakes ripped out at the very beginning, sending readers on a torrent of twists and turns as Lyons brilliantly sets the stage for a tale that is both deeply sinister and emotional. A Mask of Flies ponders on themes of death and loss, and how grief keeps coming back to haunt us no matter where we hide or how far we run from it.
The tale begins with the frantic escape of young Anne Heller and her terror-stricken mother from a mysterious and menacing pursuer, which ends up in a fatal car crash that kills her mother and wounds her. Twenty years later, it seems that Anne’s life hasn’t changed much. We follow an adult Anne as she narrowly escapes from a botched bank heist, stringing along a fatally-wounded Jessup – the heist mastermind – and Dutch, a policeman whom she’d recklessly taken hostage.
As if being fugitives weren’t enough, Anne’s rude reunion with her mother’s strange past is disrupted when Jessup vanishes, only to reappear dead. The horror escalates when the supposedly buried Jessup comes back from the dead, not as himself but as a hungry, mask-wearing, shape-shifting thing. As I mentioned, the action in this book is relentless and is constantly filled with shootouts, gory fight scenes, and crazy people. Alongside the existential dread that oozes from the prose, the supernatural elements left this supernatural fan thoroughly satisfied.
A Mask of Flies is a slow burn at first, but the action scenes that follow are relentless, plunging the characters into a pool of torment. Fans of It and Evil Dead will revel in Lyons’ gory prose and epic adventure.
Lyons’ character development stands out for its straightforward yet profound. A Mask of Flies presents characters barely clinging to hope, only to be mercilessly struck down when they seem most vulnerable. From the very beginning, we learn of Anne’s traumatic childhood—confused, scared, and alone—which sets her up for a fairly lonely adulthood where she trusts few and loves even fewer. However, she soon learns that she doesn’t have to face life alone, nor does she need to be scared alone. I loved how Lyons’ characters grow on one another despite their dark circumstances, making it easy to root for them. Even the novel’s minor characters left a lasting impression on me, and I felt that they each added to the ambitious narrative.
However, while I did find the fight scenes and visceral gore were thoroughly satisfying, the transition from crime to cult felt just a little sudden. The cult-horror elements were undeniably fascinating (and as a fan of cult-horror, I relished these parts), but an earlier introduction to the cult would have woven the threads more tightly together. Despite this, A Mask of Flies presents a gritty blend of crime and cult themes that injected a dark, unpredictable twist which kept the story brutally engaging.
Overall, A Mask of Flies is an epic journey not for the faint-hearted, truly living up to its blurb—”the past has teeth”—quite literally. This novel keeps you on edge from the first page, with unabated tension and bone-crunching twists. I can’t wait to see what spine-chilling work Lyons’ will put out next! Thank you to Tor Nightfire for sending over a review copy.
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