Rhiannon

I see why some might say this is extreme horror, and it is! But I thought it was more of a body horror posing as a commentary on horror in ultra-masculinity. Although the violence is incredibly brutal and absolutely ramps into the extreme category, it was also more grounded in gritty reality than mere shock value when compared to traditional extreme or splatterpunk.

The first third is spent setting up the distinct main characters – we have a cop, a mafioso boss, a scientist testing new drugs and an already supremely angry, roided out dude who gets amped to the nth degree by those experimental drugs and is now running loose through the mean streets of Chicago. The characters are all pretty much men with the female roles seemingly secondary and are mentioned tangentially or as victims of the violence inflicted. It feels like this was a deliberate choice made by the author?

Despite this, I thought Wagner’s setup of the main cast was well thought out and gave me enough to be interested in them and how they would all come together in the plot. There’s a lot of commentary on male masculine behaviour and traits, with some developing or ruminating in interesting ways and others maybe not so much?

This will sound odd, but it was almost like reading a classic Greek epic through the lens of our action-packed, ultra-violent modern time. In fact, the main villain of the piece frequently refers to himself as a god. This is also emphasized by the choice of Roberto Ferri’s excellent “Ecate” as the cover. Vengeance and hubris, extreme violence and tragedy abound in both the classical Greek era and our own current age.

An entertaining, fast-moving novel that kept me hooked right to the end.

My thanks to NetGalley and Dead Sky Publishing for the ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.