'The Black Veldt' – Michael Reyes

It's a fact that in the days immediately following payday, I'm more open to trying something new than I am at any other time. I clearly can't be trusted with money but the upside is that I do end up discovering some amazing reads quite by accident. Books like 'The Black Veldt' for example (I got tagged in a Tweet, thought the book looked interesting and never looked back). I've kind of given the game away early so if you want to duck out here then that's fine; just make sure you grab a copy of 'The Black Veldt' on the way, you really do need to read it.

And if you're still here, let me tell you a little more about 'The Black Veldt'...

Jose Carvel is a scumbag. But he wants to be a better person. The degenerate writer and former ward of state is trying to recreate himself in the slums of the Lower East Side, yet his past won’t stop haunting him. Those violent memories of his dark nights on the road. The tormented faces of those he left behind. The relentless nightmares of that ancient, demon- stalked veldt with its covenant of blood and its master of shadow, dirt, and stars. He must confront his own dark truth while exploring the depths of sexual depravity and obsession in Fear City during its Summer of Sam. Carvel must fight to save the woman he loves… While rescuing his own soul from the Black Veldt’s vile kingdom.

Wow... What a rush and what a read 'The Black Veldt' is. I've always said that the best thing Lovecraft ever did was give us the concept of cosmic horror, opening the door for writers who are more technically gifted to really do it justice (and yep, that's one for discussion but that's how it feels from where I'm sat). With 'The Black Veldt', Reyes joins those ranks and to be honest, looks like he was there the whole time. It's that good, very much a 'read in one sitting' kind of book.

When someone encounters cosmic horror, there's only ever going to be one winner and it's never the protagonist... In that sense, 'The Black Veldt' wanders down some very familiar paths but it has a couple of things going for it that really make it stand out in a crowd. The main one is Jose Carvel himself, a man who really wants to be a better person but is constantly being held back by his past, the things he has done and the things that have happened to him. Carvel is a character that you can't help but root for, whether it's his attempts to do the right thing or when he has to revert to type in order to live another day. Those 'familiar paths' I mentioned, just now, only serve to make his struggles all the more tragic as ultimately, there are some things you just can't fight. Carvel's a bastard, but you can't help but love him as if he fails, what chance do any of us have really?

What also really struck me about the book is Reyes' own 'cosmic horror mythos' (for want of a better phrase, you know what I mean though) and how he blends it into late seventies New York. There's a fine balance to be had between cosmic horror concepts that really show us how much we don't understand and those that are just plain illegible. It's all in the delivery and Reyes nails it with the character of Glen, who knows just enough to be able to give Carvel half the story. It's intriguing and you just have to keep reading to find out what it all means for Carvel. And while you're doing that... The discordant clash between disco and New York's urban wastelands is weird enough already but Reyes has a neat trick of making it even stranger with shadows that shouldn't move... but do, drug trips that may well be anything but, that kind of thing. It all comes together to make a landscape that won't let you settle into the read, you're constantly on edge waiting for something that might not happen but may well be happening right in front of you.

'The Black Veldt' has been doing it's weird little thing for a couple of years now but if it has passed you by up to now, this is me telling you not to let it escape again. Seriously, read it.