There is nothing to report this week, so it is back to my bread and butter – reading recommendations. Here are six dark fiction books worth reading, if you haven’t done so already. Click on the links to read my reviews:
Novel with Cocaine
Novel with Cocaine is a nihilistic account of adolescence and addiction.
My Review: Set in the years immediately before and after the Russian Revolution, Novel with Cocaine follows the life of Vadim, a Moscow adolescent and …(more)
Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories
A sense of doom and despair permeates this somewhat disparate assemblage.
My Review: The book, which is divided into four parts, begins with the sinister tale Rashōmon. Set during the Heian era, it sees a confrontation between …(more)
In Wolves’ Clothing
This first-person transgressive work features a member of an anti-child trafficking organisation.
My Review: Zero Slade is a member of an anti-child sex trafficking organisation. The role entails infiltrating the industry by masquerading as
high-rolling sex …(more)
Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness is a multi-layered story about what can occur when man exists outside of civilisation’s constraints.
My Review: Heart of Darkness is a novella about a steamship sailing up a river through the jungles of The Congo, in search of Mr Kurtz, a mysterious ivory trader, who has reportedly …(more)
In Cold Blood
Capote’s seminal work is a reconstruction of the real life murders of a family.
My Review: The story reconstructs the real life murders of a Kansas farmer, his wife and teenaged children. The Clutters, as they are referred to in the book, are a popular …(more)
Less Than Zero
Less Than Zero is about a privileged and disturbed group of L.A. youngsters.
My Review: Set in nineteen-eighties Los Angeles, the story follows eighteen-year-old Clay, returned home for Christmas from college in New Hampshire. Clay immediately …(more)