A review by vondav
Becoming David by Phil Sloman
5.0
Richard a self-employed accountant, house-proud and someone you would take home to meet your mother, a man who if you met in a pub you would be happy to have a drink with him. But what if I told you he had unusual taste, a taste for meat that was not animal. Oh yes to get his favourite food, he had to kill, unsuspected men he picked up in bars. He had a great life, until he killed the wrong person and David made sure he knew it.
This is a fast paced read and before I knew I had finished it. Having only a few characters, helps you learn all about Richard. When David started to haunt Richard, you get to see Richard’s world fall apart. At the start David was more like Jiminy Cricket, Richard’s conscious but as the story progressed he became as dark as Richard. Although there were times that I suspected that Richard had a split personality and David was a figment of his imagination. Whilst this is a story of a cannibal serial killer, the author does not concentrate on the blood and gore which enables you to use your imagination. The cannibalism was discussed at meal times and I always had a smile on my face when I read how he prepared the food. Obtaining the meat was just how you would get meat from an animal. The planning of each killing was more important than the kill and you can understand how Richard had got away for it for so long. There are not many books that at the end of the story, you start to feel sorry for the killer, but this was one of them.
I have read this author work in a few anthologies and always love his ideas of a story. I am eagerly looking forward to more stories from him. If you like your horror psychological then pick up this book.
This is a fast paced read and before I knew I had finished it. Having only a few characters, helps you learn all about Richard. When David started to haunt Richard, you get to see Richard’s world fall apart. At the start David was more like Jiminy Cricket, Richard’s conscious but as the story progressed he became as dark as Richard. Although there were times that I suspected that Richard had a split personality and David was a figment of his imagination. Whilst this is a story of a cannibal serial killer, the author does not concentrate on the blood and gore which enables you to use your imagination. The cannibalism was discussed at meal times and I always had a smile on my face when I read how he prepared the food. Obtaining the meat was just how you would get meat from an animal. The planning of each killing was more important than the kill and you can understand how Richard had got away for it for so long. There are not many books that at the end of the story, you start to feel sorry for the killer, but this was one of them.
I have read this author work in a few anthologies and always love his ideas of a story. I am eagerly looking forward to more stories from him. If you like your horror psychological then pick up this book.