Reviews 3
High Cross By Paul Melhuish
House of Wrax By Raven Dane
Moonshine Express By Poppet
Echoes From An Expired Earth by Allen Ashley
Greenbeard by John Travis
God Bomb! by Kit power
The Quarantined City by James Everington
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Film Reviews
HIGH CROSS by Paul Melhuish
The first comparison that came to mind when I set off into the dark and menacing streets of High Cross village was Hammer Horror. The beautiful, but evil, being who holds sway over a clutch of human souls, the desperate race to defeat her, the edge-of-the-seat climax, all shouted Hammer at its best. Later I picked up a Supernatural vibe; the monstrous creature, which can only be killed in one specific way and there are only few people who can do it. And overarching all this, the pure Englishness of James Herbert.
High Cross by Paul Melhuish is an epic, sprawling, multi-viewpoint horror novel that takes place in a long-deserted village which is in the throes of renovation and rebirth. A cast of characters arrive to begin a new life in the countryside, intent of living the rural dream and the village idyll. But a black heart beats at the core of the place and soon takes physical form in the shape of Lady Grey, a demonic being who is irresistible to all, both physically and spiritually. The villagers are a gloriously flawed bunch (but then, aren’t we all?) and it is those thinly papered-over fault lines that Lady Grey exploits to gain a foothold in the souls of the villagers. Meanwhile the beleaguered property developer, a decent man with an ambition, who is responsible for the High Cross project finds his dreams, finances and marriage pouring from his grasp like sand.
There is an element of fun in this book. The author is obviously thoroughly enjoying himself as he wreaks havoc on the lives of his characters. The reader can relish the horrors within the novel’s pages because we can all see the dark secrets and shadowy corners of our own psyches reflected in those of the hapless villagers of High Cross. We experience that odd frisson brought on by seeing others enduring an agony that is partially self-inflicted, while we watch and breathe a sign of relief that it is, in the words of Lemmy in the Motorhead song, Them Not Me.
High Cross takes the reader into some dark corners, especially when it delves into the blackness at the core of its characters. It is a great story to which, Paul Melhuish has added that essential ingredient - the need to keep those pages turning. There is no point at which it seems a good place to stop. He has created a gorgeously malevolent monster in Lady Grey, whose contempt for us mortal humans, is not entirely unjustified. The novel has heart, essential for a story like this to work. The characters are people we recognise.
All-in-all, this is the perfect yarn for a winter’s evening, but when you do drive into High Cross, don’t be fooled by the pretty houses and peaceful looking streets. Keep your car doors locked and windows closed and, if you know what’s good for you, do not stop until you leave its borders.
HIGH CROSS by Paul Melhuish
Horrific Tales Publishing
Buy it HERE
The first comparison that came to mind when I set off into the dark and menacing streets of High Cross village was Hammer Horror. The beautiful, but evil, being who holds sway over a clutch of human souls, the desperate race to defeat her, the edge-of-the-seat climax, all shouted Hammer at its best. Later I picked up a Supernatural vibe; the monstrous creature, which can only be killed in one specific way and there are only few people who can do it. And overarching all this, the pure Englishness of James Herbert.
High Cross by Paul Melhuish is an epic, sprawling, multi-viewpoint horror novel that takes place in a long-deserted village which is in the throes of renovation and rebirth. A cast of characters arrive to begin a new life in the countryside, intent of living the rural dream and the village idyll. But a black heart beats at the core of the place and soon takes physical form in the shape of Lady Grey, a demonic being who is irresistible to all, both physically and spiritually. The villagers are a gloriously flawed bunch (but then, aren’t we all?) and it is those thinly papered-over fault lines that Lady Grey exploits to gain a foothold in the souls of the villagers. Meanwhile the beleaguered property developer, a decent man with an ambition, who is responsible for the High Cross project finds his dreams, finances and marriage pouring from his grasp like sand.
There is an element of fun in this book. The author is obviously thoroughly enjoying himself as he wreaks havoc on the lives of his characters. The reader can relish the horrors within the novel’s pages because we can all see the dark secrets and shadowy corners of our own psyches reflected in those of the hapless villagers of High Cross. We experience that odd frisson brought on by seeing others enduring an agony that is partially self-inflicted, while we watch and breathe a sign of relief that it is, in the words of Lemmy in the Motorhead song, Them Not Me.
High Cross takes the reader into some dark corners, especially when it delves into the blackness at the core of its characters. It is a great story to which, Paul Melhuish has added that essential ingredient - the need to keep those pages turning. There is no point at which it seems a good place to stop. He has created a gorgeously malevolent monster in Lady Grey, whose contempt for us mortal humans, is not entirely unjustified. The novel has heart, essential for a story like this to work. The characters are people we recognise.
All-in-all, this is the perfect yarn for a winter’s evening, but when you do drive into High Cross, don’t be fooled by the pretty houses and peaceful looking streets. Keep your car doors locked and windows closed and, if you know what’s good for you, do not stop until you leave its borders.
HIGH CROSS by Paul Melhuish
Horrific Tales Publishing
Buy it HERE
HOUSE OF WRAX By Raven Dane
I have a love-hate relationship with far-future, technology-is-forgotten/turned into magic stories. I can find them dull, or I can find them intriguing. There is seldom an in-between. My favourite has always been Michael Moorcock's madcap Dancers at the End of Time trilogy. However, House of Wrax has is definitely slipped into the love category. There is an energy to this tale that kept me intrigued, engaged and reading. It is focussed and pacey. The characters were well-formed, spiky, and interesting. The set-up is convincing. Loved the cover too.
John Wyndham’s novel, The Chrysalids springs to mind when considering House of Wrax, because of its theme of genetic purity protected with lethal force. In Raven Dane’s book the genetically impure are a monstrous horde that threaten the house’s very existence, not through crossbreeding, but by out-and-out violence. For the House of Wrax, genetic purity is a biological necessity rather than a quasi-religious doctrine. In its way, House of Wrax is a parable for modern day racism and nationalist paranoia. The beleaguered pure-bloods holed-up in their fortress threatened by the barbarian hordes and reluctant to trust those who would be allies.
I did find the physical metamorphosis of one particular character a little hard to swallow, but subsequent events eased my disquiet until I could accept the change.
Raven Dane’s writing is clear, straight-down-the-line storytelling. She wastes no words yet manages to paint a vivid picture and enables the reader to emotionally engage with her characters right from the first meeting. The ending left the possibly of a sequel, and I certainly hope that is the case.
HOUSE OF WRAX by Raven Dane
Demain Press
Buy it HERE
I have a love-hate relationship with far-future, technology-is-forgotten/turned into magic stories. I can find them dull, or I can find them intriguing. There is seldom an in-between. My favourite has always been Michael Moorcock's madcap Dancers at the End of Time trilogy. However, House of Wrax has is definitely slipped into the love category. There is an energy to this tale that kept me intrigued, engaged and reading. It is focussed and pacey. The characters were well-formed, spiky, and interesting. The set-up is convincing. Loved the cover too.
John Wyndham’s novel, The Chrysalids springs to mind when considering House of Wrax, because of its theme of genetic purity protected with lethal force. In Raven Dane’s book the genetically impure are a monstrous horde that threaten the house’s very existence, not through crossbreeding, but by out-and-out violence. For the House of Wrax, genetic purity is a biological necessity rather than a quasi-religious doctrine. In its way, House of Wrax is a parable for modern day racism and nationalist paranoia. The beleaguered pure-bloods holed-up in their fortress threatened by the barbarian hordes and reluctant to trust those who would be allies.
I did find the physical metamorphosis of one particular character a little hard to swallow, but subsequent events eased my disquiet until I could accept the change.
Raven Dane’s writing is clear, straight-down-the-line storytelling. She wastes no words yet manages to paint a vivid picture and enables the reader to emotionally engage with her characters right from the first meeting. The ending left the possibly of a sequel, and I certainly hope that is the case.
HOUSE OF WRAX by Raven Dane
Demain Press
Buy it HERE
MOONSHINE EXPRESS by Poppet
Here is another beautiful book from the ever intriguing Eibonvale Press, replete with stunning art work from David Rix and a story to suit.
Moonshine Express is a nightmare ride through a bad dream. The protagonist, a Miss June Dubois, boards a train at an unnamed, and somewhat enigmatic, station. The train itself is all very sumptuous and reeking of Agatha Christie’s Orient Express. June immediately encounters a cast of strange and unsettling characters who could easily be related to the inhabitants of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy, and who become increasingly puzzling and then malevolent and as the journey progresses. Where is the train going? Who knows? Why is June Dubois on-board? No idea. and most intriguing of all, who is she anyway?
And that’s only the beginning.
There are many miles to travel before the puzzle is anything like solved. But that doesn’t matter. You’re on for the ride. Once the train doors are closed, there is no getting off until you reach whatever constitutes a destination, if there is one at all.
Thrumming with sexual energy, Moonshine Express plunders the cruel and sensual love games played by the gods and goddesses of human myth. June Dubois (or is she someone else?), finds herself a plaything in the hands of the characters on the train, both living and, possibly, dead. She is no tremulous flower, however, but a strong female lead who puts up a fight, even when she falls under the spell of the glamorous, amorous and supernaturally irresistible.
Angela Carter inevitably springs to mind when looking for comparisons. The complexity of both plot and writing style are infused with Carter’s own. There is also a soupcon of Michael Moorcock at his most decadent in there. But comparisons aside, Poppet has a voice that is hers and hers alone.
Moonshine Express is at once intriguing, infuriating, bemusing and confusing, but always satisfying. If you do find yourself on board, best not look out of the carriage windows.
MOONSHINE EXPRESS by Poppet
Eibonvale Press
Buy it HERE
Here is another beautiful book from the ever intriguing Eibonvale Press, replete with stunning art work from David Rix and a story to suit.
Moonshine Express is a nightmare ride through a bad dream. The protagonist, a Miss June Dubois, boards a train at an unnamed, and somewhat enigmatic, station. The train itself is all very sumptuous and reeking of Agatha Christie’s Orient Express. June immediately encounters a cast of strange and unsettling characters who could easily be related to the inhabitants of Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy, and who become increasingly puzzling and then malevolent and as the journey progresses. Where is the train going? Who knows? Why is June Dubois on-board? No idea. and most intriguing of all, who is she anyway?
And that’s only the beginning.
There are many miles to travel before the puzzle is anything like solved. But that doesn’t matter. You’re on for the ride. Once the train doors are closed, there is no getting off until you reach whatever constitutes a destination, if there is one at all.
Thrumming with sexual energy, Moonshine Express plunders the cruel and sensual love games played by the gods and goddesses of human myth. June Dubois (or is she someone else?), finds herself a plaything in the hands of the characters on the train, both living and, possibly, dead. She is no tremulous flower, however, but a strong female lead who puts up a fight, even when she falls under the spell of the glamorous, amorous and supernaturally irresistible.
Angela Carter inevitably springs to mind when looking for comparisons. The complexity of both plot and writing style are infused with Carter’s own. There is also a soupcon of Michael Moorcock at his most decadent in there. But comparisons aside, Poppet has a voice that is hers and hers alone.
Moonshine Express is at once intriguing, infuriating, bemusing and confusing, but always satisfying. If you do find yourself on board, best not look out of the carriage windows.
MOONSHINE EXPRESS by Poppet
Eibonvale Press
Buy it HERE
ECHOES FROM AN EXPIRED EARTH by Allen Ashley
Echoes From An Expired Earth is a beautifully presented collection of poetic wit, wisdom and just plain fun from author and editor Allen Ashley. A broad range subjects are examined within its pages with a keen poetic eye and take the reader from the wise words of a father to visions of the far future.
The minimalist feel of the poetry in these pages belies the complexity at its heart. The author makes it look simple, but as you navigate the twists and turns of each piece it is apparent that each word, each punctuation point, is so carefully selected, it slides easily into the structure as if created purely for that particular task.
Having said that, please don’t think that this collection is any way pretentious or exclusive or that it conforms to the stereotype of inaccessible literature held by many who are wary of poetry. Echoes From An Expired Earth is an ideal starting point for anyone interested in turning off the literary mainstream into the side lanes of poetry, but is unsure where to begin. The works in here are non-threatening, by turns funny, satirical, poignant, menacing and downright clever. The subjects are recognisable to most of us; a memory of the Tarzan tv series many of us watched us children, an epic pub crawl to almost every pub you've ever visited, and a long, tiring night journey, which can be performed to a backing of Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn” (I saw this performed to an acoustic – yes acoustic - version of the song).
Among the weighty matters discussed are what Sleeping Beauty really thought of the prince who woke her, the past, present and future nature of warfare, a recipe for a monster cake and how the futuristic future we imagined when we were kids, compares with the reality of the 21st Century. Echoes From An Expired Earth is a rich buffet and can be taken in one bite or dipped into so that each poem is savoured to the full, which is how I approached the book. Even so, I still finished it far too quickly, but like a piece of music I enjoy, I will return to it again and again.
My own favourite, a tough one, but if pushed, would have to be Ten Things We’re Going To Have To Live Without After The Apocalypse. I'll leave it there, because the title speaks for itself. If you love poetry, you’ll love this book. If you’ve never tried it, you’ll also loved this book.
ECHOES FROM AN EXPIRED EARTH by Allen Ashley
Demain Press
Buy it HERE
Echoes From An Expired Earth is a beautifully presented collection of poetic wit, wisdom and just plain fun from author and editor Allen Ashley. A broad range subjects are examined within its pages with a keen poetic eye and take the reader from the wise words of a father to visions of the far future.
The minimalist feel of the poetry in these pages belies the complexity at its heart. The author makes it look simple, but as you navigate the twists and turns of each piece it is apparent that each word, each punctuation point, is so carefully selected, it slides easily into the structure as if created purely for that particular task.
Having said that, please don’t think that this collection is any way pretentious or exclusive or that it conforms to the stereotype of inaccessible literature held by many who are wary of poetry. Echoes From An Expired Earth is an ideal starting point for anyone interested in turning off the literary mainstream into the side lanes of poetry, but is unsure where to begin. The works in here are non-threatening, by turns funny, satirical, poignant, menacing and downright clever. The subjects are recognisable to most of us; a memory of the Tarzan tv series many of us watched us children, an epic pub crawl to almost every pub you've ever visited, and a long, tiring night journey, which can be performed to a backing of Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn” (I saw this performed to an acoustic – yes acoustic - version of the song).
Among the weighty matters discussed are what Sleeping Beauty really thought of the prince who woke her, the past, present and future nature of warfare, a recipe for a monster cake and how the futuristic future we imagined when we were kids, compares with the reality of the 21st Century. Echoes From An Expired Earth is a rich buffet and can be taken in one bite or dipped into so that each poem is savoured to the full, which is how I approached the book. Even so, I still finished it far too quickly, but like a piece of music I enjoy, I will return to it again and again.
My own favourite, a tough one, but if pushed, would have to be Ten Things We’re Going To Have To Live Without After The Apocalypse. I'll leave it there, because the title speaks for itself. If you love poetry, you’ll love this book. If you’ve never tried it, you’ll also loved this book.
ECHOES FROM AN EXPIRED EARTH by Allen Ashley
Demain Press
Buy it HERE
GREENBEARD by John Travis
There’s a serial killer on the loose, terrorising a typical English town. The police have drawn a blank. No child, it seems, is safe. There are suspects, particularly the elderly face painter who seems to have appeared out of nowhere. He’s a kindly old chap, but that doesn’t mean a thing because he is different. Daniel is a young lad who stumbles on a terrible secret but can’t tell a soul, because doing so put the lives of those he loves most in mortal danger. Meanwhile the killings go on.
Greenbeard by John Travis is a tightly plotted, multi-viewpoint novella that hides the horrific behind the bland veneer of British family life. It is a world where no one wants to make a fuss, people like to keep themselves to themselves and no one wants to believe anything that might cause them to glance at the disturbing scenery on the far side of their narrow world view.
And no one listens to children, of course, because children are disruptive and are likely to, God forbid, make a scene. But let the slightest suspicion falls on some hapless individual, and the mob monster that lives in all of us will immediately rise from its slumber.
The monster of the story is signposted almost from their first entrance, and yet it doesn’t matter. This isn’t a twisty-turny whodunnit, or even a whydunnit laden with tangled skeins of psychobabble back-story. No, there is a person who needs to kill. There is a child, Daniel, who knows who the killer is and there is a man who realises that he has a way of putting the mark of Cain on the guilty party.
The writing is sharp and economical. Emotions such as fear, heartbreak and anger are skilfully woven into the story’s fabric by a writer who knows exactly what he is doing and when to stop. There is no wasted prose, no padding. The story is a snapshot of now, of what is happening in these people’s lives at this moment and that is what is important. Greenbeard is also sprinkled, lightly but effectively, with a little dark magic. Just enough to give it the trademark Travis strangeness, but not so much it weakens the structure of a very solid character play. Magic realism, I suppose you could call it.
And that ending, it reminded me of the denouement of one of my favourite films, the US version of The Pledge starring Jack Nicholson.
Greenbeard; highly recommended.
GREENBEARD by John Travis
Demain Press
Buy it HERE
There’s a serial killer on the loose, terrorising a typical English town. The police have drawn a blank. No child, it seems, is safe. There are suspects, particularly the elderly face painter who seems to have appeared out of nowhere. He’s a kindly old chap, but that doesn’t mean a thing because he is different. Daniel is a young lad who stumbles on a terrible secret but can’t tell a soul, because doing so put the lives of those he loves most in mortal danger. Meanwhile the killings go on.
Greenbeard by John Travis is a tightly plotted, multi-viewpoint novella that hides the horrific behind the bland veneer of British family life. It is a world where no one wants to make a fuss, people like to keep themselves to themselves and no one wants to believe anything that might cause them to glance at the disturbing scenery on the far side of their narrow world view.
And no one listens to children, of course, because children are disruptive and are likely to, God forbid, make a scene. But let the slightest suspicion falls on some hapless individual, and the mob monster that lives in all of us will immediately rise from its slumber.
The monster of the story is signposted almost from their first entrance, and yet it doesn’t matter. This isn’t a twisty-turny whodunnit, or even a whydunnit laden with tangled skeins of psychobabble back-story. No, there is a person who needs to kill. There is a child, Daniel, who knows who the killer is and there is a man who realises that he has a way of putting the mark of Cain on the guilty party.
The writing is sharp and economical. Emotions such as fear, heartbreak and anger are skilfully woven into the story’s fabric by a writer who knows exactly what he is doing and when to stop. There is no wasted prose, no padding. The story is a snapshot of now, of what is happening in these people’s lives at this moment and that is what is important. Greenbeard is also sprinkled, lightly but effectively, with a little dark magic. Just enough to give it the trademark Travis strangeness, but not so much it weakens the structure of a very solid character play. Magic realism, I suppose you could call it.
And that ending, it reminded me of the denouement of one of my favourite films, the US version of The Pledge starring Jack Nicholson.
Greenbeard; highly recommended.
GREENBEARD by John Travis
Demain Press
Buy it HERE
GOD BOMB! by Kit Power
As turn-of-the-screw stories go this is both unique in premise and brutally tense. A young man interrupts an evangelical church service and threatens to blow the place up along with everyone within it unless God speaks to him. In a moment, a disparate group of people are wrenched from a few hours of peaceful, perhaps a little self-satisfied, worship into a living hell overseen by one of the most unstable and unpredictable “villains” I have so far encountered in literature or on film.
The story never lags, the pace never flags, and the tension never ever lets up. From the opening scene to the last moments, the reader is never sure how this is going to end. Kit Power grabs your attention and holds it.
You see the drama through the eyes of various congregation members. The key players are introduced one by one and their inner lives and circumstances are unveiled. They are hardly as pure as the driven snow themselves. Many are encumbered by their past sins and are in that place to seek redemption. Instead they find terror.
The will-they-won’t-they moments are skilfully staged, individuals who seen a slender opportunity to save themselves and the congregation, willing themselves to act while the reader screams at them to get on with it.
The movie Dog Day Afternoon hovered around my consciousness like a filmic ear worm, while I was reading this book. There are a lot of differences between the two, of course, particularly with respect to both the hostages and audiences’ attitude to the hostage-takers. Whereas in the film, Al Pacino’s performance, works a Stockholm Syndrome effect on both his prisoners and his watchers, there was little to empathise with in the God Bomb! gunman. The point at which the two meet is in the stretching of time, the way every eternal second passes and in the levels of stress endured by the human beings who have found themselves at the mercy of volatile, self-obsessed characters on the hair-trigger edge of breakdown.
As unpredictable as its central character, God Bomb! is a masterclass in edge-of-the-seat suspense. Original, terrifying and beautifully written, it is a supremely intelligent thriller. Highly recommended.
GOD BOMB! by Kit Power
Buy it HERE
As turn-of-the-screw stories go this is both unique in premise and brutally tense. A young man interrupts an evangelical church service and threatens to blow the place up along with everyone within it unless God speaks to him. In a moment, a disparate group of people are wrenched from a few hours of peaceful, perhaps a little self-satisfied, worship into a living hell overseen by one of the most unstable and unpredictable “villains” I have so far encountered in literature or on film.
The story never lags, the pace never flags, and the tension never ever lets up. From the opening scene to the last moments, the reader is never sure how this is going to end. Kit Power grabs your attention and holds it.
You see the drama through the eyes of various congregation members. The key players are introduced one by one and their inner lives and circumstances are unveiled. They are hardly as pure as the driven snow themselves. Many are encumbered by their past sins and are in that place to seek redemption. Instead they find terror.
The will-they-won’t-they moments are skilfully staged, individuals who seen a slender opportunity to save themselves and the congregation, willing themselves to act while the reader screams at them to get on with it.
The movie Dog Day Afternoon hovered around my consciousness like a filmic ear worm, while I was reading this book. There are a lot of differences between the two, of course, particularly with respect to both the hostages and audiences’ attitude to the hostage-takers. Whereas in the film, Al Pacino’s performance, works a Stockholm Syndrome effect on both his prisoners and his watchers, there was little to empathise with in the God Bomb! gunman. The point at which the two meet is in the stretching of time, the way every eternal second passes and in the levels of stress endured by the human beings who have found themselves at the mercy of volatile, self-obsessed characters on the hair-trigger edge of breakdown.
As unpredictable as its central character, God Bomb! is a masterclass in edge-of-the-seat suspense. Original, terrifying and beautifully written, it is a supremely intelligent thriller. Highly recommended.
GOD BOMB! by Kit Power
Buy it HERE
THE QUARANTINED CITY by James Everington
His name is Fellows and he lives in an unnamed, quarantined city. It is a city closed off to the outside world. A city in lockdown. How contemporary and relevant is that! Except that this novel was written years before anyone had ever heard of covid-19. The reason for this particular quarantine is unclear, but the citizens seem accepting enough. There is a protest movement and there are grumbles of discontent, but all-in-all people do not question what is happening to them or seek to change it.
Fellows, however, is growing uneasy and confused. His house is haunted. The city around him seems to be in a constant, though subtle state of change, disturbingly unnoticed by anyone else. He is tormented by fragmented memories. No one is who he had believed them to be, including himself, and he has become obsessed by the fiction of an enigmatic and reclusive author.
The Quarantined City by James Everington is an intriguing, bewildering, sometimes infuriating but always rewarding novel. Comparisons have been made to J G Ballard and I think them valid. There is a deceptive simplicity in the writing style that reminded me of Ballard, and also of his stablemate, Brian Aldiss. I was also caught a scent of D F Lewis. The story’s milieu is similar to the oddly very-British landscapes of Lewis’s fiction. Not only Britishness, but thge outdated, over-polite, slightly-bemused-by-the-world version I remember from my childhood. There is a Lewisian, dreamlike quality to the story and its presentation. A relatively peaceful, though enclosed world where there appears to be little that can harm the protagonist, but which is shot through with a gathering, but hard-to-define menace. Added to that, there are John Travis-style absurdities mixed in with Kafkaesque puzzles and sudden, destabilising shifts.
Many comparisons but, in the end, The Quarantined City is absolutely the child of its author and a highly original one at that. The dislocating sense of being shut-in, of a world that has come to a halt is something which all of us have experienced during the covid-19 lockdown and it is that experience that intensified my relationship with this novel. The Quarantined City is a delight. It keeps the reader guessing and unsettled. Fellows is an engaging protagonist, although, at times, one you feel needs a good talking to. He stumbles through the story in an appealing state of bewilderment which transforms slowly into grief as memories from what seems to be another world begin to break through.
My advice? Take a trip through The Quarantined City, sit by the fountain, enjoy the sea air and allow yourself to become lost in its familiar-then-unfamiliar streets. It will be a weekend city break you will never forget.
THE QUARANTINED CITY by James Everington
Buy it HERE
His name is Fellows and he lives in an unnamed, quarantined city. It is a city closed off to the outside world. A city in lockdown. How contemporary and relevant is that! Except that this novel was written years before anyone had ever heard of covid-19. The reason for this particular quarantine is unclear, but the citizens seem accepting enough. There is a protest movement and there are grumbles of discontent, but all-in-all people do not question what is happening to them or seek to change it.
Fellows, however, is growing uneasy and confused. His house is haunted. The city around him seems to be in a constant, though subtle state of change, disturbingly unnoticed by anyone else. He is tormented by fragmented memories. No one is who he had believed them to be, including himself, and he has become obsessed by the fiction of an enigmatic and reclusive author.
The Quarantined City by James Everington is an intriguing, bewildering, sometimes infuriating but always rewarding novel. Comparisons have been made to J G Ballard and I think them valid. There is a deceptive simplicity in the writing style that reminded me of Ballard, and also of his stablemate, Brian Aldiss. I was also caught a scent of D F Lewis. The story’s milieu is similar to the oddly very-British landscapes of Lewis’s fiction. Not only Britishness, but thge outdated, over-polite, slightly-bemused-by-the-world version I remember from my childhood. There is a Lewisian, dreamlike quality to the story and its presentation. A relatively peaceful, though enclosed world where there appears to be little that can harm the protagonist, but which is shot through with a gathering, but hard-to-define menace. Added to that, there are John Travis-style absurdities mixed in with Kafkaesque puzzles and sudden, destabilising shifts.
Many comparisons but, in the end, The Quarantined City is absolutely the child of its author and a highly original one at that. The dislocating sense of being shut-in, of a world that has come to a halt is something which all of us have experienced during the covid-19 lockdown and it is that experience that intensified my relationship with this novel. The Quarantined City is a delight. It keeps the reader guessing and unsettled. Fellows is an engaging protagonist, although, at times, one you feel needs a good talking to. He stumbles through the story in an appealing state of bewilderment which transforms slowly into grief as memories from what seems to be another world begin to break through.
My advice? Take a trip through The Quarantined City, sit by the fountain, enjoy the sea air and allow yourself to become lost in its familiar-then-unfamiliar streets. It will be a weekend city break you will never forget.
THE QUARANTINED CITY by James Everington
Buy it HERE