1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another Philosophical Thriller from D'lacey, April 11, 2009
This review is from: Garbage Man (Paperback)
In a follow-up to his visceral and socially aware debut "Meat", Joseph D'Lacey has crafted another fine tale that utilizes the trappings of horror and suspense to deliver a socially conscious message, this time one that touches us all: Mother Earth and the environment. Though of a different tone than Meat, "Garbage Man" is a thriller that should make everyone think twice about what we dump into our precious soil.
Mason Brand is a disillusioned celebrity photographer weary of society's ills, tired also of making his fame off of them. After retreating from society for a time, Brand comes into contact with an elderly couple that lives close to the earth. They teach him how to commune more deeply with the natural world humans take for granted, and Brand begins to sense a new purpose for his life. Healed but still scarred, he eventually re-emerges from his isolation, though he remains on the fringe, leading a solitary life next to the Shreve District County Landfill.
Soon, Brand becomes convinced that Mother Earth is whispering secrets to him, secrets he's not ready to hear or accept. Something grows in the fetid stews of sewage simmering beneath the landfill, and when an evolutionary leap brings new life to Brand's doorstep - something born of man's refuse - he believes a breathtaking new future is in store for mankind. As Brand nurtures this new life, however, he realizes with dim horror that in this new future, man is the ultimate recyclable, meant to be consumed and reused.
Though it seeks to provoke thought about the important topic of pollution, "Garbage Man's" narration is different than "Meat" - quicker, more adventure-laden. The novel's denouement is a fast-paced race for survival, rather than a treatise of pollution's ills. Also, there are more likable, three-dimensional characters here, folks readers can root for, people who might actually live down the street from us. As important a novel as its predecessor, "Garbage Man" delivers a vital message spiced with mass-market appeal.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
not just a pile of garbage, November 18, 2011
This review is from: Garbage Man (Paperback)
*Won this from Goodreads*
The author of this book seems to have a bit of an environmental agenda. With that in mind- this book excelled at being creepy and gross. In fact there are some scenes that literally made me cringe.
The book isn't perfect- there were a couple items that didn't make sense to me but they weren't enough to stop reading. In fact once you hit about halfway the excitement is in full swing and its difficult to put down.
Even though the "moral" of the story is somewhat obvious it wasn't overly preachy. The ending was also a bit of a surprise. A definite recommendation for those who enjoy the horror genre.
Side note- I had a great experience with the publisher. They went above and beyond what I would have expected.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Comes alive in the second half, October 5, 2009
This review is from: Garbage Man (Paperback)
After the success of Joseph D'Lacey's disturbing debut MEAT (also reviewed by GUD), his second novel, Garbage Man, was bound to come out to high expectations. So high, perhaps, that no book could live up to them.
The people living near the RefuSec Waste Management landfill don't pay it much attention. After all, they have their own problems to wrestle with--frustrated ambition, a damaged connection with the Earth, sexual deviancy. But is the landfill as indifferent? Or is it churning humanity's waste into a strange new form of life?
Garbage Man has strong plot elements--a mysterious, shaman-like figure called Mason Brand who communes with the local landfill, a young woman prepared to do anything to escape her "boring, boring, boring" life, another woman tormented by dreams of a "razor-baby" that endlessly searches, endlessly suffers, and is endlessly silent, and, brooding over all, the filth and waste of the dump.
D'Lacey is clearly determined to eschew the errors made by so many Horror novels that offer the mutilation and death of characters we know nothing about and care for less. Half of Garbage Man is dedicated to introducing its characters, to inviting the reader to learn their failings and their flaws, to sympathise with their attempts to overcome the sheer dull nastiness of their lives. Yet somehow it doesn't work. The characters don't come alive on the page.
This despite some solidly creepy writing, especially in the dream sequences.
"The knives enter the baby's body easily, as though it were made of fresh cake. They slide in deep. Deep enough to stay. The baby pauses, turns. Some of the longer knives have passed right through it. She sees the points poking downward from its chest as it screams. She can't hear the screaming. She only feels it, deep inside, her spirit being murdered by the baby's pain."
The first half of the book disappoints. There's almost too much introduction, too much following the characters around while they prepare, unwittingly, for their own annihilation. After a while, even the tormented baby loses its impact. If it's going to go on its agonizing search forever, the reader has to distance themselves, has to put up barriers to interminable, hopeless pain.
When the landfill comes unexpectedly, vehemently alive, the novel picks up as if this is what it's been waiting for. There are daring escapes across rooftops. There are people trapped in buildings, trembling as they await their fate. And there are some of the strangest monsters Horror has ever brought forth.
"She didn't know what it was. It had no name. It had five 'arms' which it used as legs. It was fashioned of junk and animal parts and filth. It dragged a long fat body and left a wet trail of excrement on her carpet. A long-bodied spider without enough legs to move properly...its eyes were the loops from the handles of scissors. Its teeth were the ends of dozens of knitting needles."
Gratifyingly, Garbage Man turns into an exciting, scary, highly-imaginative Horror novel about halfway through. It's worth reading the first part to get to the second. D'Lacey has the chops to scare and disgust the reader, whether they care about the characters or not.
(Review written for GUD Magazine by Debbie Moorhouse)
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