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A review by the_enobee
Cruelty: Episodes One-Five by Edward Lorn
4.0
I was planning on reading another book between the first and second collection, but the heck with that. I'm plowing straight into the next omnibus.
Note:
I was provided this collection by the author for a fair and unbiased review.
Cruelty by Edward Lorn is a big ball of horror and mystery rolling around in a dusting of comedy. When I first met the titular character, I thought, get out of here with this crap. But after a few moments I was reduced to dread and in the future experienced chills every time the character came on the scene. This book has several features that I love:
- Shifting POVs. I love this shit. And I especially love it when you think you're going to get 2-3 POVs for the story, and bam, you're seeing through the eyes of a character you wouldn't have anticipated or even thought possible.
- Mysterious happenings. I don't mean whodunit type stuf;, I mean WTF is happening on this insane acid trip type stuff.
- Unforeseen connections and subtle machinations that indicate a purpose larger than the individual characters.
- References to events, places, and characters from the author's other work. Done with a subtle touch here, it's not forced and gives us fans a little thrill.
The only issue I had with the story was that some character introductions felt a little uneven and the flow between some events wasn't quite smooth. However, this was distributed as a serial, and I'm just now reading the collections one after another. This could explain why the flow seems strange at times.
Either way, this is a solid four-star read that I would recommend to any horror fan. Can't wait for the next half!
Note:
I was provided this collection by the author for a fair and unbiased review.
Cruelty by Edward Lorn is a big ball of horror and mystery rolling around in a dusting of comedy. When I first met the titular character, I thought, get out of here with this crap. But after a few moments I was reduced to dread and in the future experienced chills every time the character came on the scene. This book has several features that I love:
- Shifting POVs. I love this shit. And I especially love it when you think you're going to get 2-3 POVs for the story, and bam, you're seeing through the eyes of a character you wouldn't have anticipated or even thought possible.
- Mysterious happenings. I don't mean whodunit type stuf;, I mean WTF is happening on this insane acid trip type stuff.
- Unforeseen connections and subtle machinations that indicate a purpose larger than the individual characters.
- References to events, places, and characters from the author's other work. Done with a subtle touch here, it's not forced and gives us fans a little thrill.
The only issue I had with the story was that some character introductions felt a little uneven and the flow between some events wasn't quite smooth. However, this was distributed as a serial, and I'm just now reading the collections one after another. This could explain why the flow seems strange at times.
Either way, this is a solid four-star read that I would recommend to any horror fan. Can't wait for the next half!