All You Can Kill

by Pasha Malla

White Lotus meets Shaun of the Dead in this absurdist take on the wellness retreat.

Our narrator and his accidental companion, K. Sohail, inadvertently find themselves on an island wellness retreat impersonating a couple, the Dhaliwals, who have probably been killed in a helicopter crash. After being welcomed by Jerome the robot, the new Dhaliwals eagerly partake of the all-you-stomach buffet, the motivational speechifyings on Trunity by the berobed Brad Beard, and some erotic counselling by Professor Sayer. 

But things quickly take an ominous turn when an excursion to a nearby deserted village reveals a guillotine and a haunted chapel. And then one of the retreaters is murdered and the real Dhaliwals show up. Accusations, counter-accusations, and counter-counter-accusations are made, until the whole retreat is caught up in a bizarre trial. 

In All You Can Kill, Pasha Malla, with his inimitable absurdist style, collides horror and humour into an utterly unforgettable satire.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Canada, Humor, Adult

220 pages, Paperback

Published October 8, 2024

About the author

Pasha Malla was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and raised in London, Ontario. He attended Concordia University in Montreal as a graduate student.

His debut book, The Withdrawal Method, a collection of short stories, won the Trillium Book Award and the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, as well as being shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. One of his short stories, "Filmsong", won an Arthur Ellis Award while another was published on Joyland, a hub for short fiction.

Snare Books released All Our Grandfathers Are Ghosts, a collection of poetry. His first novel, People Park, was published in 2012.

Malla is a frequent contributor to The Walrus.

Reviews

[Kgoffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

What the what? I like odd books but this one was just too weird. I’m not even sure what it was about. It is entirely possible that I missed the point of the novel. It could have been a commentary on intimacy or over consumption but it also could have been about nothing.

[Jessica Blaine Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

What did I just read? Who cares! It was chaotic and fun and smart and reminded me of all those Tom Robbins books I read decades ago.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absurdist fiction at its best. I wasn't sure where this was going but Mr. Malla kept me constantly entertained and turning the pages.

'Imagine if you will' begins the book...two people end up at a health spa on an island in the middle of the ocean, where guru Brad Beard teaches how to attain 'trunity'. A robot who ends every conversation with 'Regards, Jerome'. A room full of "typical titles" videos
that had me choking with laughter. Dead bodies and a lot of 'mincing'... ("It was time to mince as if my life depended on it" )

Cleverly written. I enjoyed it a lot.

[Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

very weird, but very funny

[Angela Counter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sure this is the kind of book where I will be accused of "not getting it". I'm surprised I finished it, so that's why it gets two stars. I kept hoping that the plot would resolve and some explanation of why we were on this unhinged journey would be made, but I was very disappointed. I guess it's absurdity but it was also at turns just gross, tedious, and baffling. Maybe it's about the attention economy? the construction of identity? satire about attempting self-improvement? I'd say this book wasn't for me, but apparently I read it anyway.

[Riley G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t watch Shaun of the Dead or White Lotus so not super into it. It was funny at times but the long winded narration was hard to follow at times. Might be better if read instead of listened to.

[Enid Wray]

Disclosure: I am not a fan of absurdism. Neither have I ever finished a title written by Pasha Malla. I was hoping this one would be different.

Are we seeing the beginning of a new literary trend here? The blurb for this one sounds like it has an awful lot in common with Madeleine Ashby’s new title, Glass Houses - which I have also already DNF’ed.

So what about this one?

Well… I plugged away at it for three (3) days and I got all the way to page 39 (of 225 pages in the digital arc I’m reading)... so 17% of the way through the total page count in the PDF file.

This is doing nothing for me! Absolutely zero. Pick up, put down. Pick up, put down. Repeat.

The last time I went to pick it up again now my heart just dropped - and my mood deflated.

I’d knocked off work for the day and had moved outside onto the deck in the glorious sunshine - an absolutely perfect September day.

I had my iPad with me, ready to read… and I knew that the sinking feeling in my gut was telling me that the last thing I want to be reading is…. well, this.

That was my cue. I cut bait and bailed on this one.

I’m sure this will find its readers - but that group just doesn’t include me. Maybe next time?

DNF

Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital arc - even though I’m rather tardy in getting this post up.

[Sarita Molla · Rating 2 out of 5]

** 2.75 stars **

First time reading a book with absurdism and it was a wild but very confusing ride. Which sounds exactly like absurdism in a nutshell. The descriptions were super dense and clunky but were cleverly written. This wasn't a book you could skim through. You had to be fully present to appreciate the wordplay and satire. The premise and plot of the book were a well written horror novel because it was the horrors of our own modern day world. The main character, while weirdly dramatic, did stand out because he had such a colorful imagination and approached the world with such unnecessary gravitas. He approached the absurd world with complete absurdism. It's definitely a novel that doesn't make any sense but maybe there's something fun in that? Don't expect anything to make any sense, just go with it. But personally I found it hard to focus through all the details sometimes, the descriptions were almost never ending. Not my cup of tea but if you enjoy absurdism, it might be yours.

[Rob Forteath · Rating 1 out of 5]

The opening sequence lets you know the book is not tethered to reality, so you expect a lot of absurdity and weirdness.

But then there is very little plot and almost nothing in the way of characters. The narrator and his accidental companion find themselves in a cliché horror setting: a mysterious jungle island with a creepy cultish 'retreat' centre. The plot is broadly what would be expected from such a setup, but the telling of it is where the book lost me. The narrator blathers on annoyingly, and the interactions with the resort guide and the motivational speaker are similarly verbose nonsense. By the time the danger emerges, it's difficult to care about the narrator or anything else.

And the ending is just goofy.

[Doug Lewars · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** Possible Spoilers ***

If you don't like whimsy take a pass on this book. It's what you might get if you concocted a stew out of Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, Kafka, Inspector Gadget with a touch of Lord of the Flies for spice. I would have awarded it five stars except for two glaring faults. The first is the ending which was banal. The second were the lists. They were amusing to begin with but went on for far too long. In fact I was listening to the audio version of this book and found myself tuning out every so often so if the author lost me he probably loses other readers as well. Had an editor done just a bit of pruning this book would have been great.

[Luke T · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is by turns hilarious, encyclopedic, Kafkaesque, and profound. A scathing indictment of internet culture, men's self-help gurus and internet culture. More importantly: it's fun to read. Every page I was pleasantly surprised what Malla could pull out of his hat. A very timely read. It was the first Malla I've read and I will certainly read his other novels. Gotta doff my proverbial hat to him on this one! Great job, sieur!

[Erica Schott · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband plays basketball with this author and bought me a couple of his books at his launch a few weeks ago. So… I’d never read absurdist fiction before, and, yeah—it’s different, but I kind of loved it. There’s some super dark and obviously absurd stuff, but I enjoyed the protagonist. I’m not sure I fully understood the beginning or ending, to be honest, but I’d definitely read another book by Malla!

[Not Sarah Connor Writes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This year's Hamilton Read's title is a hit! Surreal, funny, and creepy, Malla packs a lot into this book. A great addition to the Weird Fiction genre!

Read the full review on my blog!

Also, I am more active on Storygraph now so if you want to see what I'm read right away, follow me there!

[Derek Ingram · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5*) This book does it's best to replicate what it feels like to be in a bizarre dream; and at its best it's almost Pynchonian, or invents elements that Vonnegut would have been proud of. However, at it's lower points it's outlandish in a way that's more vexing than rewarding. It's not a long book, and it has a handful of parts that are genuinely funny, so I would posit that it's a worthwile read - especially since it's from a Hamilton based author.

[Nathan Snelgrove · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reason, I couldn’t stop reading this, so it couldn’t have been all that bad. But I can’t tell you what this is trying to say. I can only tell you it was is of the strangest, most bizarre books I’ve ever read, and I can’t even properly describe what it is about, let alone explain anybody’s motivations or backstories.

[Emma Andersen · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 ⭐️ DNF at 60% and I almost never DNF. Idk if I don’t like this genre in general or if this book is just really really bad but I literally don’t know what I was reading, I should have stopped reading it sooner

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 1 of 52 for 2025. This book was.....weird. Just utterly, chaotically weird. I would have found it more engaging if it didn't also feel like I was reading a thesaurus at times.
Just .....weird.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure I liked it...?

[Dvorah Richler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no idea what this book was about. Way too weird and random for me. Was he trying to be super odd for the sake of being super odd? Waste of precious reading tine.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as ridiculous and absurd as it's predecessor Kill the Mall, yet still remarkably written, this was a delight.

[Pam Whitley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure it was my kind of read Way out there

[Laurie Stevenson · Rating 1 out of 5]

What???? I have no idea what I just read. And why?

[Giuliana Guarna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t even know what I read. was there a single plot point in this book!? It was just a cacophony of nonsense

[claudepalerm]

😅

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and entertaining and WERID weird weird. Was just kind of along for the ride - happy it’s only about 200 pages

[Lindsay Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

A totally mental book full of nonsense. A goofy sequel to “kill the mall”. This is absurdist fiction at its finest. I chuckled out loud a few times. I appreciate the satire and wordplay.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t finish

[Patricia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disturbingly strange enough that I have no idea the plot. Weird, strange, gross.

[Sarah Minos · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would have been better as a movie

[Diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

No thanks, not for me.