This is the latest horror book from a favorite of mine, G.R. Yeates. Those familiar with his Vetala cycle books will note this one is quite different; in fact, it is different from most fiction. It is written in the style of William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch, although I think Yeates takes things one step further with This Darkness Mine.
Yeates uses a lot of very violent and sexual imagery to illustrate just how soul sucking modern life, and the corporations who run it, can be. In the first half of this novel the reader is brought through a typical day in an office, one where every unique thing about an individual is taken from them and the brain dead are prized. I think this is something anyone who has worked somewhere they haven't liked can understand all too well. The second half of the book follows the worker as he is laid off from his job and thrust out into the streets. Here we see how consumerism has taken over everything to the point that it has become it's own entity; it feeds on our humanity until there is nothing left that is recognizable.
Using short, harsh descriptive sentences, Yeates is able to drive home his points about modern culture and its problems in a very thoughtful and provocative way. This unique read is highly recommended.
I give it five cocktails.
