Number 51 - The Concrete Grove - Gary McMahon

 

This book is the first book I ever finished reading at a heavy rock festival... On Thursday night  I was left with only 50 pages to go when my friend (and passenger to the festival) arrived so I needed to be a little bit sociable. So I stuck it in my bag and finished it on Saturday morning sitting in my tent after waking up early.

I had virtually no signal so, two heavy metal filled days and much mental and physical exhaustion later, here's what I thought of it.

Those who follow this blog will know that i am very keen on McMahon's miserabilist musings. His novels are written from the point of view of those at the bottom of the heap. So much horror seems to be written about the comfortably middle class and fairly well to do section of society. The very real urban nightmare settings for McMahon's books really make him stand out.

This book, part one of a trilogy, is set in the Concrete grove of the title - a sink estate where people land after they've missed every safety net and crashed through every crack to hit the bottom.

 Hailey and her mother landed there after a family "incident" left them with nothing. One day Hailey visits The Needle- an abandoned tower block in the centre of the estate around which all the streets are arranged in concentric circles - and encounters... something. It's only the first chapter so normally I would regard that as fine for giving spoilers, but in this case, certainly not.  The imagery in that first chapter is so fresh and startling that to even hint at it would do the book a massive disservice.

The power that exists in the Grove has noticed Hailey and from that point on, things get decidedly weird for everyone around Hailey, including Tom, the helpful jogger who takes her home after finding her collapsed in the street. It can see a person's deepest hidden fears and make them face up to their own demons. Some people, like local loan shark Monty Bright, have welcomed them in. 

This is filled with bizarre, surreal and goddamned scary set pieces. Even the mundane is frightening in the Grove. To have a twisted supernatural force  at work at the same time helps remove almost every glimmer of hope from these character's lives.  However, because of the skill in the storytelling, that light is always there at the end of the tunnel.  Whether that's daylight, or a freight train coming down the tracks to crush everyone in its path is another matter.

This is the first part of a trilogy, whether the characters who almost/sort of survived this book will make a reappearance is something I'm excited to find out. 

Side note. according to the author's note at the end of the book, The Needle is based on a tower block in Dunston in the north east of England. The first address I can recall living in was on a street almost opposite that tower block.  There was a great urban legend about it (which isn't used in this book) which I may need to try to use in a story of my own.

I'm not sure if this book is still in print, but it is available online from most of the usual suspects.

Go out and buy it if you enjoy existential horror set in grim and all too recognisable urban settings.  I know I do. 

In fact, just go out and buy it if you like well written horror that'll creep the bejeezus out of you. You won't be disappointed.