Carrion
By Gary Brandner
1987 Arrow Books
Paperback, 265 pages
This is one of the best books
I’ve read in a while, even though at the halfway point I’d started thinking
that same thought and realized that no actual horror had actually
happened yet. Such is the power of Gary “The Howling” Brandner’s
writing. He sets up a handful of interesting (if not completely likable)
characters and lets them unfold the plot to the reader.
McAllister “Mac” Fain is a dime
store mystic. He is quick with the sleight of hand, and he reads tarot cards,
telling gullible old ladies what they want to hear. His girlfriend Jillian, the
only character with any real common sense, wishes he’d do something more honest
with his life. He gets the chance when he is contacted by billionaire Kruger
who, after seeing an ad in a tabloid, asks if Mac can revive his dead wife. Of
course! Mac asks a voodoo guy nearby (hey, it’s LA!) for some pointers to make
his delivery look believable but finds out that he actually has a gift.
Kruger’s wife lives again, freed from her cryogenic tomb.
Of course, this interests the
tabloids and Fain becomes somewhat famous. Doing a speaking gig, he gets the
chance again, raising a kid who’d just been electrocuted. This got him more
press. And more press goes to his head. But what of the resurrected people? Are
they really OK? According to the aforementioned voodoo guy, they will be
restless until they kill the person responsible for their return, one
McAllister Fain.
This book is a study on how not
to handle fame as much as anything. Fain wasn’t super-likeable in the early
chapters but after he becomes famous, he becomes a total douche. Still, there’s
something about him that you root for. Once the chills start and the dead are
on the loose, his fear and paranoia are wonderful to witness. Brandner actually
gave me a couple of spine chills and that’s no easy feat! I plowed through this
one very quickly. Read it. It’s a good ‘un.
Carrion was first
published by Fawcett in 1986 in the US, but I suggest you save your pennies and
grab the Arrow version that came out in the UK the following year. That
green-faced and bloody ghoul bursting through a window is a far more potent and
satisfying image!
