#12AngryRobotsOfChristmas ‘Slights’ by Kaaron Warren

Here is the gift that keeps on giving, a relentless shuddering of the spine and goosebump raising horror to kick off Day 4 of my #12AngryRobotsOfChristmas!

About the book…

STEVIE IS A KILLER.

But she brings her victims back to life to demand of them: “WHAT DO YOU SEE?”

Now she’s about to find out for herself…

After an accident in which her mother dies, Stevie has a near-death experience, and finds herself in a room full of people – everyone she’s ever annoyed. They clutch at her, scratch and tear at her. But she finds herself drawn back to this place, again and again, determined to unlock its secrets. Which means she has to die, again and again. And Stevie starts to wonder whether other people see the same room… when they die.

‘Slights’ was described as one of the most disturbing novels of 2010, and I don’t know why I haven’t read it sooner. Part of it was pure fear, for sure, and part because I spent a whole set of hours lately, re-organising my shelves by publisher and in this case, independent publisher Angry Robot who produce high quality sci-fi, fantasy and horror novels.

Each chapter is dedicated to a year in Stevie’s life, stemming from her 18th year and flipping back and forth along her timeline, via a first person narrative which brings you into her mind, her thoughts and her process. Her actions and psychopathy are deeply entrenched, and make you feel a sense of guilt and scumminess from the proximity to her. She pulls you into her story, and it is deeply uncomfortable, horrifying and so very rewarding , all at the same time.

For me, this novel succeeds in areas that ‘American Psycho’ never could. It left me feeling cold, and somehow less, whereas Kaaron exposes your nerve endings and puts salt on them. It is impossible, in this reader’s humble opinion, not to react, to feel, and to keep on reading. It does not feel like an effort , the prose is sharp and tight, the ugliness apparent in the actions of Stevie and those around her as she simultaneously digs up her back yard, uncovering the flotsam and jetsam of her family history, whilst creating her own particular branch of a diseased family tree.

The addiction to the feeling of being, firstly, a girl with a boy’s name, a girl whose fearlessness is ascribed to her toughness and boyish exterior, and an anomaly in a world which expects girls to be polite and respectful , Stevie is unique, bizarre, and unforgettable. She and her brother Peter are complete and utter opposites, their little mean actions towards each other , as kids and then as teens, is so well written , you could almost hear the whines and groans of the battling siblings.

She annoys her neighbours by filling her driveway with, literally, shit, in the form of tonnes of manure whilst pretending it is there to be a part of her garden project. She has a dream to nurture a garden of jasmine, the scent of which has masked so many hideous scents of her youth.

The ‘slights‘ are behaviours she has used towards others through her life, people she has wronged and who exist in a room which only becomes accessible when she is close to death, or has, momentarily died. Stevie is not a hero, or even an anti-hero, she is the narrator of the strange events of her life in a rather piecemeal manner. It feels as if she is talking directly to you, the reader, and as she tries to uncover her family roots as well as this room, which becomes increasingly crowded, her voice becomes addictive, challenging, and difficult to forget. She shocks, she terrifies, she tortures and she means every single action that she takes.

Recommended for fans of horror and not the easily offended, this is a chunky novel but don’t let that put you off-Kaaron Warren exhibits some serious skills in making you want to dig deeper, as Stevie does, for the truth around her decidedly odd life.

About the author….

I wanted to be a writer from a very young age, and wrote my first proper short story at 14. I also wrote a novel that year, called “Skin Deep”‘, which I really need to type up.

I started sending stories out when I was about 23, and sold my first one, “White Bed””, in 1993. Since then I’ve sold about 70 short stories, two short story collections and three novels.

I’m an avid and broad reader but I also like reality TV so don’t always expect intelligent conversation from me.

Links-http://kaaronwarren.wordpress.com/

Twitter @KaaronWarren @angryrobotbooks