#Spooktober #BlogTour ‘Leech’ by Hiron Ennes

About the book…

In an isolated chateau, as far north as north goes, the baron’s doctor has died. The doctor’s replacement has a mystery to solve: discovering how the Institute lost track of one of its many bodies.

For hundreds of years the Interprovincial Medical Institute has grown by taking root in young minds and shaping them into doctors, replacing every human practitioner of medicine. The Institute is here to help humanity, to cure and to cut, to cradle and protect the species from the apocalyptic horrors their ancestors unleashed.

In the frozen north, the Institute’s body will discover a competitor for its rung at the top of the evolutionary ladder. A parasite is spreading through the baron’s castle, already a dark pit of secrets, lies, violence, and fear. The two will make war on the battlefield of the body. Whichever wins, humanity will lose again.

Honestly, I have never been so excited as I was when the email about ‘Leech’ landed in my inbox, thank you ever so much BlackCrow PR for having me on the tour and for my gifted review copy!

If you mixed Gormenghast with The Thint, you might come close to the reality of what reading Leech is like.

Set in the Chateau Veridia,as well as outposts in the same world , this snow set medical/body horror/alternate world set fiction is an incredible,genre spanning yet genre defiant novel is unlike anything you will ever read.

The protagonist is highly unique and unusual in that they don’t exist, and yet they inhabit multiple bodies and realities. It is a parasite who we are introduced to on a train ride to the Chateau, on their way to investigate the death of the baron’s personal doctor.

What quickly comes clear is that the doctor is also one of the hosts of the parasite,and has acted without the parasite even knowing. The fear engendered in this parasite who has an absolute level of control exerted over its host bodies, is exquisite and terrifying.

So there is this snow covered castle run by a family of incredibly odd creations that bring to mind Geek Love, mingled with truly horrifying scenes of dismemberment , a mystery of who,or what killed the doctor,and a steampunk-esque society that they all inhabit.

And that barely scratches the surface of the originality that Leech has oozing out of every page.

There is so much to say on the nature of identity, who you essentially are and how it differentiates from what society expects you to be.

A leech,a parasite is what we all are, we cannot exist without taking from the environment we are living in. So when we dive beneath the surface of what we do to survive, how can you tell who is good, who is bad, and how we can live in symbiosis?

By the end of the first chapter, a hideous act of death, extraction and a snow laden train journey all combined to make this book un-putdownable. I was deeply engaged and honestly resents anything and everything which tried to drag my attention away

This is essential reading for any horror fan , anyone who adores gothic literature and is destined to be endlessly talked about and dissected in the manner that the narrator takes himself apart

About the author…

HIRON ENNES is a writer, musician, and student of medicine based in the Pacific Northwest. Their areas of interest include infectious disease, pathology, and anticapitalist healthcare reform. When they’re not hunched over a microscope or word document they can be found playing in the snow or playing the harp (though usually not at the same time). They’re queer in every sense of the word, and they really want to pet your dog.

Leech is their first novel.

Links-https://www.hironennes.com/

Twitter @BlackCrow_PR @HironEnnes @TorUK