Book Review: The Slab, by Jeffrey J. Mariotte
A noirish bloodbath in the Salton Sea with serial killers, magic mushrooms, and three unlikely heroes versus Evil.
ILT Publishing, 2003, 284 pages
Three veterans of different wars, their lives once saved by magic, find themselves brought together in one of the most strange, remote, and cruel parts of the California desert. As serial killers ply their deadly trade, a young woman, abducted and endangered, seeks her own brand of justice for those who threatened her, and an ancient evil sprouts from beneath desert sands, these three war veterans must learn to embrace the terrifying bond they share. Written in powerful prose as dry and dangerous as its desert setting, The Slab, for all its horrors, is ultimately an epic tale of hope and redemption.
The Slab is a strange book that is essentially a horror novel, though it drifts across genres. Sometimes it's supernatural horror, sometimes it's a thriller, sometimes it's a war story, sometimes it's a social novel.
It was written and published immediately after 9/11, which figures as a background event that casts a shadow throughout the story even though it's not directly relevant. Each and every character, from the serial killers who hunt women for sport to the three "main" characters, their significant others and friends and coworkers, the sleazy real estate agent and his minions, everyone, gets POV scenes and characterization that is believable if sometimes loathsome.
The horror starts out mundane and plenty awful: there's a gang of California good ol' boys from all walks of life who have formed a very particular social club. Once a year, they go on a "dove hunt." The doves they hunt are not birds.
This year, the woman they abduct turns out to be more resourceful and bloodthirsty than their previous victims. The hunt is on, and it's a grim survival noir tale.
Eventually looking for the missing woman while trying to juggle a bunch of other problems is Kenneth Butler, the sheriff of a remote part of Imperial County, California. He has jurisdiction over the Slab, an unincorporated community of drifters, RV and van life hobos, and social misfits all living rent-free (sans electricity or plumbing or any other services) on a set of concrete slabs on the edge of the Salton Sea, a giant stinking salty lake created by mistake early in the 20th century. These are people who mostly have nothing but their guns and their beer and they like it that way. But a slick real estate agent has big development plans for the Slab, and after offering a carrot to evict the squatters, he brings in a bunch of hired muscle as sticks.
One of the people living on the Slab is Harold Shipp, an old man who seems like a nice fellow who very much loves his elderly wife. He is quietly sliding into dementia. He is also a former "dove hunter." Harry is a particularly complicated character; he's one of the protagonists, he is in many ways a good guy, he's nearly senile, and he has genuine remorse for his past actions... but his past actions are nearly irredeemable.
Finally, there is Penny Rice, an Iraq War veteran who's now an environmentalist and a peace activist protesting the nearby US military bombing range.
With all these characters and subplots set in motion, the plot begins to focus on Ken, Penny, and Harry, who it turns out have all experienced, a few times in their lives, "magic" days where they experienced a supernatural sense of possibility and incredible things happened. When the three of them come together, they all recognize the magic in each other, and that they have a mission. The mission leads them to a supernatural confrontation with evil that almost seemed like an unnecessary insertion into a book that could otherwise have been a straightforward thriller.
I went back and forth while reading this, sometimes frustrated by all the side characters whose thoughts are taking up page space and the weird intrusion of supernatural elements, and sometimes appreciating the depth of the characterization in such a tight narrative and the fact that it was never boring; there's always some bloodshed about to happen. I am still not completely convinced that it couldn't have been written without the Mushrooms of Evil, but the supernatural horror eventually paid off, kind of.
The Slab is kind of an artifact of its time, and doesn't fit neatly into a genre category, but I thought it was a nice piece of writing craft that probably deserves a wider audience. I am not familiar with the author and had never heard of this book before I downloaded it as part of a Humble Bundle, so it seems to be one of those small press books that just sort of disappeared after its initial release.
My complete list of book reviews.
ILT Publishing, 2003, 284 pages
Three veterans of different wars, their lives once saved by magic, find themselves brought together in one of the most strange, remote, and cruel parts of the California desert. As serial killers ply their deadly trade, a young woman, abducted and endangered, seeks her own brand of justice for those who threatened her, and an ancient evil sprouts from beneath desert sands, these three war veterans must learn to embrace the terrifying bond they share. Written in powerful prose as dry and dangerous as its desert setting, The Slab, for all its horrors, is ultimately an epic tale of hope and redemption.
The Slab is a strange book that is essentially a horror novel, though it drifts across genres. Sometimes it's supernatural horror, sometimes it's a thriller, sometimes it's a war story, sometimes it's a social novel.
It was written and published immediately after 9/11, which figures as a background event that casts a shadow throughout the story even though it's not directly relevant. Each and every character, from the serial killers who hunt women for sport to the three "main" characters, their significant others and friends and coworkers, the sleazy real estate agent and his minions, everyone, gets POV scenes and characterization that is believable if sometimes loathsome.
The horror starts out mundane and plenty awful: there's a gang of California good ol' boys from all walks of life who have formed a very particular social club. Once a year, they go on a "dove hunt." The doves they hunt are not birds.
This year, the woman they abduct turns out to be more resourceful and bloodthirsty than their previous victims. The hunt is on, and it's a grim survival noir tale.
Eventually looking for the missing woman while trying to juggle a bunch of other problems is Kenneth Butler, the sheriff of a remote part of Imperial County, California. He has jurisdiction over the Slab, an unincorporated community of drifters, RV and van life hobos, and social misfits all living rent-free (sans electricity or plumbing or any other services) on a set of concrete slabs on the edge of the Salton Sea, a giant stinking salty lake created by mistake early in the 20th century. These are people who mostly have nothing but their guns and their beer and they like it that way. But a slick real estate agent has big development plans for the Slab, and after offering a carrot to evict the squatters, he brings in a bunch of hired muscle as sticks.
One of the people living on the Slab is Harold Shipp, an old man who seems like a nice fellow who very much loves his elderly wife. He is quietly sliding into dementia. He is also a former "dove hunter." Harry is a particularly complicated character; he's one of the protagonists, he is in many ways a good guy, he's nearly senile, and he has genuine remorse for his past actions... but his past actions are nearly irredeemable.
Finally, there is Penny Rice, an Iraq War veteran who's now an environmentalist and a peace activist protesting the nearby US military bombing range.
With all these characters and subplots set in motion, the plot begins to focus on Ken, Penny, and Harry, who it turns out have all experienced, a few times in their lives, "magic" days where they experienced a supernatural sense of possibility and incredible things happened. When the three of them come together, they all recognize the magic in each other, and that they have a mission. The mission leads them to a supernatural confrontation with evil that almost seemed like an unnecessary insertion into a book that could otherwise have been a straightforward thriller.
I went back and forth while reading this, sometimes frustrated by all the side characters whose thoughts are taking up page space and the weird intrusion of supernatural elements, and sometimes appreciating the depth of the characterization in such a tight narrative and the fact that it was never boring; there's always some bloodshed about to happen. I am still not completely convinced that it couldn't have been written without the Mushrooms of Evil, but the supernatural horror eventually paid off, kind of.
The Slab is kind of an artifact of its time, and doesn't fit neatly into a genre category, but I thought it was a nice piece of writing craft that probably deserves a wider audience. I am not familiar with the author and had never heard of this book before I downloaded it as part of a Humble Bundle, so it seems to be one of those small press books that just sort of disappeared after its initial release.
My complete list of book reviews.