Reviews with content warning for Murder - American Elsewhere

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett

5 reviews

mimikyutie's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Novelist recommended this book to me based on other books similar to the Welcome to Night Vale novel and, now that I've read it, I can see why this was the first suggestion.

Built around a government quantum space lab in New Mexico, the town of Wink- which can't be found on any map- is essentially an atomic-age postcard, frozen in time. The people who live there do their best to ignore the strange, dark underbelly of their tiny and abide by outdated customs of classic 50's-60's hierarchies. In exchange for their cooperation, they can live in a 'perfect' town and avoid harassment from inhuman neighbors, who must also follow strict rules set by their predecessors. The protagonist comes to Wink to inherit her mother's old house, as she had once been a scientist working at the Lab. Her arrival triggers the next few steps in a complicated scheme to resurrect an alien god and destroy reality.

If you're familiar with Night Vale, you'll see a lot of connections already (though I would argue that Wink is a bit closer to Desert Bluffs than the town of Night Vale with its suburban facade) but the writing, mood, and tone is closer to a grittier Niel Gaiman or a restrained Stephen King. With a switching POV that bounces between a large cast of characters and elements of a supernatural crime-thriller, it reminded me of something like Salems' Lot mixed with Night Vale's A Story About You/Them episodes.

The protagonist, gritty and jaded Texan ex-cop Mona Bright, helps to keep all the balls in the air going, which is a big task considering how many are in play at any given time. She's kind of like the Watson of the story, asking the questions that the audience is asking and pursuing the mystery with the same determination. Unfortunately, I don't think the author has the same confidence in the reader, as it takes Mona a long time to even broach the idea that something supernatural is going on in Wink and, when she does discover and accept it, it still takes a lot of repetition and exposition to get her to understand what the reader has probably already guessed. Granted, the book is from 2013 and I am already very familiar with the genre of cosmic horror-fantasy-sci/fi so I might have had an advantage over Mona. She is also an ex-cop/amateur detective who likes guns which automatically makes her the dumbest person in the room wherever she goes. She has charm though, thankfully, even if she's a predictable archetype.

The best characters are all the non-humans, who are a whole new kind of Lovecraftian alien that I haven't seen before. They were creatively designed and had that classic Weird Fiction vibe while feeling fresh and having their own character. They all have a lot of personality, despite their inhuman natures, especially "Mrs. Benjamin" and "Mr. Parson". I think the way they "work" got a bit overcomplicated at times and I think fewer explanations (and re-explanations)would have actually made it easier for me to get it. All the characters are fun to read though and, even when they do shitty stuff, you can't help but enjoy spending time with them. Mona especially has a lot of heart and you sympathize with her struggle and root for her despite her hard-case nature. She makes a good heart to the story, kind but a hardened badass, deeply familial, and loyal but lonely; her conflicted nature made her flaws endearing to me. She does get corny at times, but she's still fun if you're willing to get past the whole 'dad taught me to shoot and I can never love again' kind of corny.

The best part of the story is the conveyance. It was impressively skilled at worldbuilding, character, and mystery in short chapters and with a bit of subtle implication. The book is so long because of the fact that it's stuffed- and sometimes, overstuffed- with tiny arrows all pointing towards a greater thing. There are a huge number of clues and actors to keep track of and the book keeps you invested in figuring out what they mean. I would even consider the book to be more of a supernatural mystery than a cosmic fantasy-horror. That same deft does make it more frustrating when Mona needs to have things constantly repeated to her and I think the book would have been, like, 12% better if she just learned to read the room. Once a dumb cop though, always a dumb cop, I guess.

I would definitely agree with Novelist here and say that, if you like Night Vale, you will probably like this too. Even if you don't like Night Vale and enjoy a good mystery and good fantasy storytelling though, you'll probably still like it.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism and Pregnancy

This is a cosmic science-fiction with horror elements in the lovecraftian tradition, so expect a certain degree of existential/cosmic horror, frightening imagery, and absurdist horror. Lots of action scenes that include guns, blood, loss of life, and injury. Some injuries were described in more detail than others and while they never got too grotesque there is quite a lot of violent death. Most significantly (hidden for spoilers and suicide/infanticide/homocide)

there was a mass murder-suicide involving all the human citizens of the book's main setting incited by them all witnessing a cosmic horror. Children are killed by their parents, spouses kill one another, and there is lots of detail about methods/means which ranged from self-mutilation to gunshot wounds to carbon monoxide.

There is some discussion of bigotry and fascistic hierarchy, a heavy focus on complicated/toxic maternal relationships, some drug abuse/use, insanity, psychosis, and altered states of mind, and a few mentions of sexual content (including a brief scene that suggests that a character was considering raping the protagonist, a woman of color, at gunpoint. He is unsuccessful, she escapes from him, then beats him up and -later- kills him.). There is also a romantic relationship between a human teenaged girl and a potentially ancient and nearly omnipotent alien who communicates psychically with her. This relationship is implied to have a sexual element to it as well. The main character regards this relationship with disgust and compares it to abusive relationships she's seen in the past but there we never see any explicit abuse take place. The alien character is one of the protagonists' allies and likable and seems to genuinely care for her but their relationship is complicated by the fact that her parents have essentially sacrificed her chance at a normal life so they can live comfortably in a town controlled by aliens. She also doesn't seem to reciprocate their feelings quite as much and seems uncomfortable when the topic comes up. Its difficult to read her real feelings on the matter. If you are a reader of Stephen King or similar, you will not be too far outside of your comfort zone (aside, perhaps, from the scene hidden above).

cwhite616's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

At about the 60% mark of this book, a character reflects that “familiarity breeds contempt.”

This is the problem with so many stories in the “cosmic horror” genre — as soon as the “mystery beyond words” is revealed by an unskilled author, that author has no tools but words to describe that which is inherently beyond words.

Sadly, this author takes the path of turning to gross-out gore and incredibly depressing violence, including absolutely horrible scenes of children being murdered.

I’m actually angry with Storygraph for recommending this book to me. It’s disturbing, disgusting, and almost completely without redeeming features. What’s particularly sad is that the first 40% of the book is incredibly interesting (albeit confusing) before turning into a depressing, gore-saturated pulp.

This is the most disappointing book I’ve read in decades. I’m so sad I read it.

Content Warnings