Customer Reviews

Incubi

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Police Captain Jack Cordesman has seen better days. Not only did his girlfriend, Veronica, just leave him, but now there's a series of ritualistic murders he's got to solve. And these aren't your normal, heat of the moment murders--these are specific, deliberate, time-consuming.

This is an old book, originally published by Berkley/Diamond in 1991, but Necro Publications is stepping up and publishing, for the first time, the uncut edition, Ed Lee's original story. At that time, splatterpunk was coming on big and everything was gore and sex and violence, and you couldn't find a horror novel that wasn't 30% gratuitous crap. But Ed Lee--now HE'S a different breed. You don't go into an Ed Lee story, and then gasp in shock when you get to the graphic stuff, because Lee isn't gratuitous in the least. He knows how to include all that stuff and make it an important part of the story (even the stuff in "Header" was PART of the story) The ritual upon which the murders are based is steeped in sex and blood, so Lee's descriptions of the crime scenes only serve to give us insight into what Jack's dealing with.

This story is more a police procedural than anything--it's not even a mystery, because it's obvious quite early on that Khoronos is the man behind it all. Who's Khoronos? Well, that's a subplot. When Veronica left Jack, she told him she was leaving for an artist's retreat--she's a famous painter. Khoronos, she says, is the man hosting the retreat, a rich foreigner who recently bought one of her paintings.

And that's enough on plot.

Let's talk about the book itself. Even though it's one of Lee's older stories, it's still, in my opinion, one of his best. The prose is tight and flowing, taking you from page to page without the plodding effort some other books take. It's not a chore to read Incubi, it's a pleasure. It's not often I'll take a book out to the porch and read in the middle of the afternoon, but I found myself doing that more and more over the summer, and every time it was an Ed Lee book.

(This next comment may come out wrong, so I'll try and explain it afterward.)

Incubi is just another example of how pathetic the public can be sometimes--Ed Lee should be a major player in big name horror publishing. Instead, his best work is only finding true appreciation in the small press. He's a star there, yes, but this man should be a major star, everyone should know the name Ed Lee, everyone should have a few Lee novels on their shelf. Instead, it's only recently, with the publication of his latest novel City Infernal from Leisure, that he seems to be gaining the widespread acceptance he should have had a long time ago. But God forbid the public love this novel with its graphic descriptions of sex and violence. This can't be horror. Surely this guy's just doing this to get a reaction from people. Sure. OR, he's a writer who knows what the hell he's doing. Well, better late than never, I guess.

And I know that may sound like a jab at the small press--nothing could be further from the truth. I love the small press, it's a place to find real quality work you don't get from the bigger houses. But there are authors in the small press who may be too big for the limited print runs, people who deserve the massive distribution a major publishing house can offer. And Ed Lee is at the top of that list. I love the small press, and I'm pretty sure Ed Lee does, too. But take my word for it--read Incubi and you'll see what I mean. Make this man a major star now.

This is another hard to find title from Edward Lee. It's a shame it isn't in-print anymore. I am a big fan of this writer and INCUBI ranks up there with his best (see my review of COVEN for more).
Lee isn't for the weak of heart (and stomach) though. His horror is of the most extreme kind and his sex is almost always nasty and/or perverted-- kind of like Richard Laymon, another favorite of mine.

INCUBI is about a pair of ex-lovers, a cop and a female artist, both of whom (in different ways) get involved with -- and become the target of -- a pair of male sexdemons who prey on the lusts of women. If you don't mind reading about people gettting sliced up in the most brutal ways and women see raped by grotesque phallusses this is your kind of book. Lee's ending isn't a happy one though and INCUBI has an epilogue which can be called downright weird.
ONLY READ THIS WHEN YOU'RE SURE YOU CAN HANDLE IT (for example with all the lights on)!

I heard Lee is now writing SF novels. I hope he'll return to his older form with more work like this. INCUBI is extreme horror/ gore at it's peak, written in a time when every horror novel didn't have to be targeted at a Young-Adult audience and/ or had te be part of a series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I just can't get enough! Lee's books are gross, horrific, graphic and funny in the most macabre fashion imaginable. I LOVE his books!!! "Goon" is next...can't wait!
and.. Kindle Fire really showcases the fantastic covers!

There were parts of this book that I really liked and other parts that were tedious to get through. Fortunately the tedious parts weren't that frequent. They were key to the story but I tired of them quickly. Give me a moment and I'll explain what I mean.

The story follows Police Captain Jack Cordesman as he investigates the first of several gruesome murders. These murders aren't the run of the mill gruesome as done by some psychopath; instead they are extremely ritualistic with a definite purpose. Add to this that he is barely holding on after burning himself out on previous murder cases. Plus his artist girlfriend broke up with him and went on an artist retreat hosted by a rich foreigner named Khoronos. Before long we the readers figure out the obvious that Khoronos is behind everything.

Now for what annoyed me. The murders and the investigations and everything from that side of the fence was great. It was the conversation at the artist retreat. Everything was "Art is passion." or "Experience leads to opening your mind." or "Transposition is at the heart of everything." All the type of artistic philosophy that tries to justify itself and make itself into more than what it is. I can look at the story and see exactly why it was needed and how it contributed to the plot. And I don't see how it could have been written without doing the same thing. But it also doesn't mean that I necessarily enjoyed those sections.

Overall I liked the book and thought it was one of Lee's better books, making it even more impressive that the book is a reprint from when it was originally published in 1991. It just goes to show that Lee has always been extremely talented and none of his stuff should be missed.

I am about 75% through this book and I have to say, I am not that impressed. It is a good story and it reads well, but I was in the mood for Edward Lee when I started this one and am feeling let down. You have to understand, I am just coming off having read The Minotauress, which was just an absolute carnival ride of perversity, rip-roaring mayhem and stomach-churching gore. Incubi feels much more grounded, to the point where I am bored reading it. I will finish it because I've invested so much time already, but I am already craving something else and that is not a good thing. The one pro I can point out is that the book is steeped in great sex - so much so that I was reading it in a public place tonight and found myself actually blocking the pages from people nearby lest they catch a few glimpses and think that I was reading a porn novel. It was that sexually descriptive! But the gore really hasn't gone any further than blood-soaked walls at murder scenes, the modus operandi having been repeated several times. It really is coming across as very formula-based and is losing me.

This is one of my favorites from Edward Lee. It is a really good story with characters that you can really latch on to. I think this is definately one of his best. Great writing that really flows for the reader.

Edward Lee books are truly horror stories so buy this book!