Nocturnal (Book Review)
Sunday, June 12th, 2011
A genre that has always sucked me through an immersion portal is the good old horror thriller. In my twenties I must have read every horror thriller author my grubbly little mitts could acquire and it left me wanting for more… much much more. Recently I’ve begun reading – or listening to the podcast versions – from a talented and well recognised author of the horror thriller sci-fi genres, Scott Sigler. After consuming several of his books, the podcasts are read and audio-acted by Scott Sigler, I probably found Nocturnal to be the most powerful. That being said, there are more Scott Sigler books that I haven’t read yet than those I’ve had the time to read.
Going into any Sigler book involves a hyper-American adventure including all the drugs, guns, crime and low-level violence. If you were to run into a dracula figure it would have to wear a three piece suit, get blow-jobs off several crack whore mistresses and have a propensity to drink from the dismembered limbs of unsedated semi-conscious victims. If you were to run into something resembling a wolfman it would be possible to smell the sweat on the back of it’s pricked up ears or wipe it’s face off with a handy flannel dipped in hydrochloric acid. I don’t want to take you any further into that hypothetical scenario but you should have a better idea of where Sigler horror is intended to hit home. It’s about psychosis, depravity; the dirt and filth of the back streets and alleyways of a B Movie Americana.
The basic premise of Nocturnal is that San Francisco has been preyed upon for over 200 years by a group of genetically mutating monster children. The monster adults cautiously hunt humans at night under the malevolent vengeful eyes of an even more powerful monster called The Saviour. Two detectives stumble too far into the high level police corruption protecting the saviour, a prophecy comes to pass, the city’s underworld goes to the mattresses and the shit hits the fan in semi-glutenous stinky madness that probably arrived on your doorstep in a flaming paper bag.
Unfortunately at present Nocturnal is being revised by Sigler for a hardcover release so the podcast that I acquired is not currently available. But I’d keep track of this guy and if you haven’t bought into the Siglerverse I’d also recommend you start reading his sci-fi work.
If I had to define it in a sentence::: Nocturnal is an unpretentious eye gouge in a literary street fight with the fecal remnants of your worst nightmare under torchlight with the electric blanket on three.
