Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Garbage Man” as Want to Read:
Garbage Man
by
"Joseph D'Lacey rocks!" —Stephen King
Mason Brand has fled his life as a celebrated photographer and renounced his past. He is living rough, as a hermit in the Welsh hills, when something happens to him among the mossy oaks. He begins to hear "the calling." Years later, Mason is living with sight of a colossal landfill dump, and he hears "the calling" again. This time he ...more
Mason Brand has fled his life as a celebrated photographer and renounced his past. He is living rough, as a hermit in the Welsh hills, when something happens to him among the mossy oaks. He begins to hear "the calling." Years later, Mason is living with sight of a colossal landfill dump, and he hears "the calling" again. This time he ...more
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Garbage Man,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about Garbage Man
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of Garbage Man
Once again D'Lacey combines a superb horror story with a more substantial story and a deeper more 'real' meaning. We start off in the town of Shreve, whose colossal landfill has taken over the identity of the town and its inhabitants as authorities from miles around use the area as their own personal dumping ground. In the midst of this carnage and waste however, there is something evolving and growing, something that will strike terror into the hearts of Shreve residents and force them to face
...more
Jan 18, 2020
Helen
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
horror-fiction
A really fast-paced, intense read with a message. I liked that the ending wasn't all 'Hollywood'; I've long said we could do with something like this happening for real, like a selective plague.
Recommended read especially fans of apocalyptic/dystopian horror fiction. ...more
Recommended read especially fans of apocalyptic/dystopian horror fiction. ...more
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear before we go any further – Joseph D’Lacey does not do comfortable. I’ve read enough of his unique brand of eco-horror to know exactly what to expect when I crack open one of his books. A word of warning, if you’ve never experienced his writing before and you are particularly faint of heart, you may want to give Garbage Man a miss. This is not the book for you. D’Lacey leaves little to the imagination when his descriptive powers are running at full tilt. Perso
...more
‘Garbage Man‘ focuses on that which we discard, which we no longer find value or meaning in, and takes it to an extreme exploration that could easily have become a sad, hilarious B-Movie plot-gone-stupid. But Joseph doesn’t write stupid, cheap-thrill stories.
The novel opens with a scene that’ll have you grimacing and squinting while you read (I won’t spoil it for you), introducing two -perhaps three- of the novel’s main characters – Mason, Aggie, and … well, you’ll see. It’s one of those portent ...more
The novel opens with a scene that’ll have you grimacing and squinting while you read (I won’t spoil it for you), introducing two -perhaps three- of the novel’s main characters – Mason, Aggie, and … well, you’ll see. It’s one of those portent ...more
Some book titles make things a little too easy for a reviewer. For instance, if you are going to make a book called ‘Garbage Man’ make sure that it is not awful as people will just state that it was garbage, man. After reading Joseph D'Lacey’s book, it would appear that he did not follow this sage warning as ‘Garbage Man’ is a pretty poor book. Trying to emulate the greats is no bad thing and after the passing of James Herbert there is a rat sized whole in the horror genre. At times ‘Garbage’ ma
...more
Tough book to review. I really wanted to like it, always interested in new authors, particularly british and I've heard so much about his debut novel Meat. Maybe Meat was a great book, but this one just didn't do it for me. The pacing dragged for the most part, except toward the end. The characters were unsympathetic for the most part. The whole book was sort of like taking out the trash and having a bag burst open...just really gross. Unpleasant things happening to unpleasant humans. This book
...more
Somehow I managed to miss Joseph D'Lacey. Don't make the same mistake I did. The Garbage Man is a dark, dreary piece of work with excellent characters and awful monsters. The story telling is very atmospheric and gritty.
Five Grimy Stars ***** ...more
Five Grimy Stars ***** ...more
Loved this book!
Still need convincing to 'go green?' The awful offal in The Garbage Man will have you running for the recyling bin.
The first half of the book was a litle slow but when it takes off it's a one sitting read. The people of Shreve give little thought to the local garbage dump other than being disgusted with the wafting odors. But when Mother Nature decides she's had enough of her garbage producing inhabitants who are destroying earth, her creative juices flow. Scary, creepy, thought ...more
Still need convincing to 'go green?' The awful offal in The Garbage Man will have you running for the recyling bin.
The first half of the book was a litle slow but when it takes off it's a one sitting read. The people of Shreve give little thought to the local garbage dump other than being disgusted with the wafting odors. But when Mother Nature decides she's had enough of her garbage producing inhabitants who are destroying earth, her creative juices flow. Scary, creepy, thought ...more
What a great read! An unusual and (despite the title) fresh tale, very very well told.
Mr D'Lacey's writing style reminds me in some ways of Stephen King's. This is not just because of the "dark" tone and subject matter, nor the fact that King's review of Garbage Man is on the cover. It's because D'Lacey's narrative flows as well as King's (usually) does (and in some places better) -- reading the book was effortless. It's because D'Lacey has a knack for painting vivid characters who feel like peo ...more
Mr D'Lacey's writing style reminds me in some ways of Stephen King's. This is not just because of the "dark" tone and subject matter, nor the fact that King's review of Garbage Man is on the cover. It's because D'Lacey's narrative flows as well as King's (usually) does (and in some places better) -- reading the book was effortless. It's because D'Lacey has a knack for painting vivid characters who feel like peo ...more
Intelligent, creepy fun! What happens when, after taking the trash out, it realizes it has no place else to go and decides.....to come back!? With an attitude! Mandatory recycling, indeed! The author has taken this ludicrous-sounding premise and made it into a credible, intense, frightening, gross---and thought-provoking---horror novel. For readers who like a little message with their mayhem. D'Lacey strikes gold again (after "Meat") with this "Garbage," man.
...more
I have not read Meat but did enjoy Kill Crew. I thought this book was just a 3 star read. It was creative and well written but wasn't particularly exciting, cathartic, or beautiful. Maybe I expected too much?
...more
Mar 30, 2013
Debra
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
horror-supernatural
Another excellent read by D'Lacey. Garbage coming to life wasn't an easy subject matter to make credible, but D'Lacey did this well. Mother Nature gets back at mankind for how poorly we've treated her. She kicks some ass! I love me some great horror, and this one qualified.
...more
Loved it! Exquisitely written - unusual for this genre in my opinion. Couldn't put it down, gripped me from page one right to the very end.
...more
Once again D’Lacey delivers a world like no other. A must read, especially if you loved his book Meat.
I wanted to like this more. The concept was fun, but buried too deeply in a sort of despair and grief to truly be entertaining.
Garbage man has some noteable qualities to it, nods to a very British bleak outlook, repressed deviancy, bizarre behaviours and a lovely little nod to other classic British writing with a character called Stig who is the groundsman looking after the dump. All very clever.
The thing that stands out throughout and separates D’Lacey from most other horror writers I have read before is his no frills descriptive writing. You never have more than needed to paint the picture needed, whether this is in ...more
The thing that stands out throughout and separates D’Lacey from most other horror writers I have read before is his no frills descriptive writing. You never have more than needed to paint the picture needed, whether this is in ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
After enjoying Meat so much I was disappointed by this one until the end. A strong finish caused me to improve the rating which I was inclined to give. The author’s note at the end indicated that he was forced to add material and it rather shows. This book could have easily lost approximately twenty percent of its content with no ill effect upon the plot. The ‘baby in the building’ scenes in particular added nothing to the story. Overall, though, I would recommend this, but don’t expect the high
...more
I got Garbage Man to read for review from a giveaway :)
I didn't read Meat but, but really liked this one. Though the beginnig was rather slow in action, it gother paced towards the end. The story is well written, interesting and scary. Really recommend this one if you like chills while reading :) ...more
I didn't read Meat but, but really liked this one. Though the beginnig was rather slow in action, it gother paced towards the end. The story is well written, interesting and scary. Really recommend this one if you like chills while reading :) ...more
As a horror fan, I mean this as the highest compliment; I wish I had never read this book.
It messed me up, y'all, and I had to sleep with the lights on the four nights it took me to tear through it. That said, I'd highly recommend it. ...more
It messed me up, y'all, and I had to sleep with the lights on the four nights it took me to tear through it. That said, I'd highly recommend it. ...more
Good. Solid. Not what I was expecting, and should have a more mainstream appeal than the equally good but more disturbing 'Meat'.
...more
I was sent this one, before the U.S. release - oh boy. This is great writing. I can't imagine bad writing coming from him.
...more
Another superb exercise in terror from one of the finest British writers around.
Joseph D'Lacey is sick and twisted! I like that in an author. Although a slow start, I ended up loving this book, and telling my friends and co-workers about it.
...more
I have to admit, I found this one a little underwhelming, which made me super sad because I have been looking forward to reading it for a while. It just took such a long time to get going - for the first 60 pages or so, there's no development of the monster, just the characters, who, honestly, I didn't like. They all seemed like pretty terrible people - Ray ultimately became my favorite, (view spoiler)
...more
“Garbage Man” (GM) is the second novel by horror, sci-fi, fantasy writer Joseph D’Lacey. An eco-thriller the premise of which is that sooner or later a living, breathing entity will try and expel a parasite invading it before the parasite causes irreversible damage.
In this case the living, breathing entity is the planet Earth and the parasite is man. Evolving from the mountainous piles of refuse chocking the planet comes a Garbage Man...and it will continue to evolve, using all of the rubbish a ...more
In this case the living, breathing entity is the planet Earth and the parasite is man. Evolving from the mountainous piles of refuse chocking the planet comes a Garbage Man...and it will continue to evolve, using all of the rubbish a ...more
I really didn't enjoy the first 60% of the book. It was confusing. However it became a B-Movie book. Then it became a horror zombie book. Then the ending really made up for a lot. I could have done without the preachy mother earth stuff from the author at the beginning because it set it up as a poetic piece of literature to force us to think about our planet. Instead the book really is a cheezy B-Movie book and it should be sold as that. Not a soap box to save mother earth. I was conflicted with
...more
Gripping Story
I may have just discovered a new author to add to my list of favorites. I picked it up under the recommendation of David Moody and I couldn’t be happier.
The story is such a unique twist on apocalyptic horror. I am simultaneously curious to see what happens in the book come to pass and terrified if it were actually possible. What makes the story scarier is just how believable Jospeh D’Lacey makes it seem possible.
I may have just discovered a new author to add to my list of favorites. I picked it up under the recommendation of David Moody and I couldn’t be happier.
The story is such a unique twist on apocalyptic horror. I am simultaneously curious to see what happens in the book come to pass and terrified if it were actually possible. What makes the story scarier is just how believable Jospeh D’Lacey makes it seem possible.
After reading Meat I was super excited to finally get to read this book, but after reading it I was sorely disappointed. I felt this was confusing at times (who was that falling baby, wth???) and the idea of garbage coming alive just silly.
It's a well thought, great written book but... There's is something missing. Like a spark in the characters or the storytelling. I loved the message, but not the messenger. At least, not as much as I thought would liked it.
...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers also enjoyed
Became vegetarian after writing MEAT. Fond of meditation, unfathomable questions and cats.
Repped by Robert Dinsdale.
"Joseph D'Lacey rocks!" Stephen King.
...more
Repped by Robert Dinsdale.
"Joseph D'Lacey rocks!" Stephen King.
...more
Related Articles
Get ready for some out-of-this-world reading and some insane near-realities with the science fiction and fantasy books that are catching the...
245 likes · 22 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
