‘Mad Dog’ – J.R. Park (Sinister Horror Company)

I had such a great time reading ‘Beheaded’ that it was a real no-brainer to go looking for more books by J.R. Park to get into. I settled on ‘Mad Dog’ in the end, mostly because I have a soft spot for visceral werewolf tales (I will always watch ‘Dog Soldiers’ whenever I get half a chance) but also because ‘Beheaded’ has a little nod in the direction of Mad Dog Mooney and I love joining up stories and getting that sense of continuity. ‘Mad Dog’ it was then and… Bloody Hell! Again!

“You don’t need my expert opinion of the esoteric to know there was something very, very wrong with him.” - Father Matthews

Mad Dog Mooney was a ghost story. A legend that spooked even the most hardened of criminals. But when he came to Darkdale prison he proved all too real.

The inmates are shell shocked by his arrival and rumours persist of his strange behaviour, whilst accusations of cannibalism from the media are not forgotten.
As tensions grow amongst the prison population, a jail break is planned to take place under the ethereal glow of a full moon.

Mad Dog is an oral history, a compilation of testimonies from witnesses to the atrocity that befell Darkdale prison.

‘Mad Dog’ is only just over a couple of hundred pages long and I thought it would be a nice, quick read for the bus home. There is so much to get your head round here though that it feels like you’re reading twice that. It is really easy to get into and just read until you’re done but what’s not so easy is to get it out of your head afterwards. Once you’ve finished reading, you’ll find that ‘Mad Dog’ is here to stay and that’s no bad thing at all.

The approach that Park takes to telling this tale is a great hook that draws you with an instantly intriguing tale that’s ‘drip-fed’ by a number of differing voices. I loved it, switching between voices keeps things fresh and it’s like having a mini cliff hanger at the end of each paragraph. You know what’s coming but you have to keep taking a breath, as the POVs change over, and that really ramps the tension right up. You’re ready for it all to kick off but you’re also all wound up and you’re actually not all that sure if you do want to see it. And then it kicks off.

Now, I’ve read ‘Beheaded’ so I had an idea of just how visceral it was going to be. Park certainly doesn’t disappoint with the most stomach churning prison riot scenes that I’ve ever read. What I thought was a great touch though was the how the werewolf was introduced, it was like something out of ‘Aliens’ with it picking off prisoners, in the dark, before it went full on homicidal and tore up everything that it could. And there’s the other hook; you’ve read this far to see things kick off, now you’re here for the payoff over the rest of the book. And Park doesn’t hold back, not once.

And the ending is superb. I don’t want to say too much as I don’t want to spoil it but you have to read it. Talk about flipping everything upside down but still keeping that same level of horror, it’s brilliantly done.

You’ve probably gathered, by now, that I enjoyed the hell out of ‘Mad Dog’. I’m usually last to the party but if you haven’t read ‘Mad Dog’ yet then you really should, it is well worth your time.