Clock's Watch

Coney Island, a confluence of weirdness and demonic powers. Guarded by the diminutive, unseen hero, Clock!

Clock is a Chaote, a chaos mage. A lonely figure that watches over the Island of Narrioch, and is the guardian that watches at the edge of our reality, making sure that the things that come through are sent back on their merry bloody way.

This is an interesting set of stories by Michael Ray about Clock and his adventures in Coney Island. I was first introduced to Michael Reyes??? s writing earlier this year with the frenetically paced The Cursed Diary of a Brooklyn Dog Walker, and said to myself that I need to go back and read some more. And here I am, at the start of his Clock???s Watch Series.

Clock???s Watch comprises of six individual, self contained stories that have an overarching episodic nature and build up to form a complete narrative.

Quite a novel approach (sorry, couldn???t resist).

The first story introduces us to the Coonskin hat wearing, crossbow wielding diminutive chaos mage that stands as a guardian between the worlds. Clock may be short of stature, but he is big on personality, that is when you can see him that is, due to the fact that he is slightly invisible, and most people can???t see him. This has its advantages of course. However there are some that can see him.

When we are first introduced to Clock, he is investigating the emergence of some monster who has taken over the body of a young mother.

As I said earlier, there six stories in total and Michael Reyes fills them with all sorts of weird and wonderful monsters and demons.

There are demons who use a black balloon to possess the living, little red mite demons that live in the guts of racoons and gate crash a party resulting in a Raimiesque tale of blood and slaughter.

An indigo mushroom that plans to reveal Clock???s secrets.

There is much to admire in Michael Reyes??? writing. He has the ability to make you howl with laughter whilst delivering some gruesome goriness. His descriptive prose is very streamlined and he doesn???t waste a word which adds to the overall urgency of the situations that Clock finds himself in.

And can you get away from a review without mentioning Clock himself, the inimitable hero of the story. He is gruff and totally rough around the edges and to his middle, but he is a kind soul that takes his duties as the Guardian of Coney Island extremely seriously and he never lets anything through on his watch.

The book itself is a short read but extremely worth it. The self containedness of the stories make it easy to read and yet the overarching nature of the stories give you that sense of having read a novel.