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Carrion
Carrion is about a world consumed by chaos. But in this world, you are not a desperate survivor hoping to outlast the bedlam; instead, you are the monster that caused it. Consumed by an insatiable hunger, a malevolent need to feed, you are the one from whom the masses flee. And because of you a group of barbaric men led by a fanatic with a gleaming badge fastened to his chest have banded together with the intention of hunting you and all those like you down. Follow in the footsteps of a fiend. See what he sees. Taste the flesh. Smell the decay. Suffer the anguish. Witness a massive city crumble under the weight of fear and hate and become hell. Whether engulfed in flames, or flooded by lakes of blood, all that remains are monsters and men, and the war that wages not only between them, but within themselves.
114 pages, Paperback
First published November 8, 2015
25 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan R. Rose
4 books67 followersBorn and raised in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, Jonathan R. Rose has always been surrounded by different cultural perspectives and experiences, which inspired his love of learning and exploration. As a result, he has spent more than a third of his life in other countries, including Mexico, where he lived for almost 10 years, and Argentina, where he lived for 2 years.
His first novel, Carrion, was published by Montag Press (based out of Oakland, California) in 2015. Montag Press also published his second novel, The Spirit of Laughter, in June of 2020, and his third novel, Wedlock, in June of 2022. His newest book, a work of nonfiction titled After The Flames, was released by Dundurn Press in January of 2024.
His short stories have appeared in several literary magazines, including The Spadina Literary Review, The Danforth Review, Nebula Rift Science Fiction Magazine and Lumiere De Nuit (based out of Puebla, Mexico).
To learn more about Jonathan R. Rose, you can visit his website at www.JonathanRRose.com
His first novel, Carrion, was published by Montag Press (based out of Oakland, California) in 2015. Montag Press also published his second novel, The Spirit of Laughter, in June of 2020, and his third novel, Wedlock, in June of 2022. His newest book, a work of nonfiction titled After The Flames, was released by Dundurn Press in January of 2024.
His short stories have appeared in several literary magazines, including The Spadina Literary Review, The Danforth Review, Nebula Rift Science Fiction Magazine and Lumiere De Nuit (based out of Puebla, Mexico).
To learn more about Jonathan R. Rose, you can visit his website at www.JonathanRRose.com
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 27, 2016
This book will not appeal to everyone. This is hard core horror. By that I mean if you only like to dip your toe in the horror pool as far as occasionally reading Stephen King this will not appeal to you and you may find it somewhat offensive. If however your tastes run more towards diving head first into the brutal and graphic horror of Edward Lee, this may be for you. If dripping entrails or chewing up the chubby little arm of an infant make you feel faint this is not for you.
“He ate ravenously, mouth frothing and slick. Drooling and snarling, his eyes rolling around like those of a shark”
Carrion is told entirely from the point of view of “The Monster” and because of that there is very little dialogue here. The monster is hungry and it wants to eat. That’s all. It has no interest in anything else. There are few human characters in this story and since the story is not really about them they remain undeveloped. Their interaction with each other is sparse and because of that you may not care much one way or the other whether they are killed and eaten.
I would have liked someone to root for, and a stronger plot line.
Jonathan Rose can write. I will definitely give him that. I can see a huge potential here.
I received a complimentary copy for review
“He ate ravenously, mouth frothing and slick. Drooling and snarling, his eyes rolling around like those of a shark”
Carrion is told entirely from the point of view of “The Monster” and because of that there is very little dialogue here. The monster is hungry and it wants to eat. That’s all. It has no interest in anything else. There are few human characters in this story and since the story is not really about them they remain undeveloped. Their interaction with each other is sparse and because of that you may not care much one way or the other whether they are killed and eaten.
I would have liked someone to root for, and a stronger plot line.
Jonathan Rose can write. I will definitely give him that. I can see a huge potential here.
I received a complimentary copy for review
March 14, 2016
As is often the case, I received this book free for the purpose of review. Despite that kindness I give my absolutely candid thoughts below.
The nutshell summary on this book is that it follows a single zomboid individual as he travels through the remains of a great metropolitan city appeasing his insatiable appetite for human flesh.
To the positive, the book is one of the most profoundly grim pieces of writing I've come across in a few years. The author has painted us a desolation that is unforgiving and an antagonist who does anything and everything to slake his thirst for blood. Rose's descriptions are vivid, evocative and detailed. Also, unusual for a book of this sort the text is fairly clean with only a handful of editing errors.
To the negative, even with all the grim detail, the story fails to create real emotion because it is, often almost cartoonish. No matter how vividly described, a situation that is not sufficiently realistic will tend to sap away the tension needed to build a real crescendo. In this case, so many plot issues such as the "monster's" perpetually broken ankle that doesn't really seem to do much to slow him down and the complete ineptness of his adversaries keep breaking up the pace of the story. Add to that the distraction of the author's odd choice of metaphors at times and what could be ticklishly horrifying turns into something much less.
Further, I'm not entirely sure I found the author's point in this book beyond merely playing with gratuitous violence. The anti-hero plods through the story devouring the populace but I didn't really see any overarching point to the thing aside from a very generic good versus evil theme.
In summary, the author's work has tremendous potential and for a first novel this one is exceptional but still fails to come into full flower as a novel. It has many great elements for those who adore an unabashed blood and guts fest but those with more complex appetites will find themselves still rather hungry.
Video Review here: https://youtu.be/NLGnvCkSmAQ
--
Rob Slaven
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tatteredthread/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile...
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/RobSlave...
WordPress: https://tthread.wordpress.com/
The nutshell summary on this book is that it follows a single zomboid individual as he travels through the remains of a great metropolitan city appeasing his insatiable appetite for human flesh.
To the positive, the book is one of the most profoundly grim pieces of writing I've come across in a few years. The author has painted us a desolation that is unforgiving and an antagonist who does anything and everything to slake his thirst for blood. Rose's descriptions are vivid, evocative and detailed. Also, unusual for a book of this sort the text is fairly clean with only a handful of editing errors.
To the negative, even with all the grim detail, the story fails to create real emotion because it is, often almost cartoonish. No matter how vividly described, a situation that is not sufficiently realistic will tend to sap away the tension needed to build a real crescendo. In this case, so many plot issues such as the "monster's" perpetually broken ankle that doesn't really seem to do much to slow him down and the complete ineptness of his adversaries keep breaking up the pace of the story. Add to that the distraction of the author's odd choice of metaphors at times and what could be ticklishly horrifying turns into something much less.
Further, I'm not entirely sure I found the author's point in this book beyond merely playing with gratuitous violence. The anti-hero plods through the story devouring the populace but I didn't really see any overarching point to the thing aside from a very generic good versus evil theme.
In summary, the author's work has tremendous potential and for a first novel this one is exceptional but still fails to come into full flower as a novel. It has many great elements for those who adore an unabashed blood and guts fest but those with more complex appetites will find themselves still rather hungry.
Video Review here: https://youtu.be/NLGnvCkSmAQ
--
Rob Slaven
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tatteredthread/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile...
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/RobSlave...
WordPress: https://tthread.wordpress.com/
January 29, 2016
‘Carrion' written by Jonathan Rose is a powerful debut work of author who obviously loved to read Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’. Told from perspective of monster that needs to survive in post-apocalyptic world, this book is definitely something that needs to be experienced.
Rose introduces reader to chaotic place this world became and while trying to escape from the hunt of a group of men, you would be able to understand how it feels to be prey, while all around there is nothing but chaos, fear, hate, flames – the hell, in one word…
‘Carrion', though not too thick, because of the excellent pace and author's style can be highly recommended for all the fans of horror and apocalyptic genres though its quality easily crosses borders of both genres.
Therefore, readers would not make mistake deciding to spend some time in company of this addictive book and I am sure this is not the last time we heard name Jonathan Rose – I would say this young man has decent writing career ahead of him…
I was given a copy of this book by the author for the purpose of unbiased review, while all the presented information is based on my impressions.
Rose introduces reader to chaotic place this world became and while trying to escape from the hunt of a group of men, you would be able to understand how it feels to be prey, while all around there is nothing but chaos, fear, hate, flames – the hell, in one word…
‘Carrion', though not too thick, because of the excellent pace and author's style can be highly recommended for all the fans of horror and apocalyptic genres though its quality easily crosses borders of both genres.
Therefore, readers would not make mistake deciding to spend some time in company of this addictive book and I am sure this is not the last time we heard name Jonathan Rose – I would say this young man has decent writing career ahead of him…
I was given a copy of this book by the author for the purpose of unbiased review, while all the presented information is based on my impressions.
April 12, 2016
Note: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I hate saying this but I have to leave this book alone for good as the it's really failing to keep up with the expectations I had before starting with it.
The writing is really good but the plot seems a little off and the whole monster's journey is really starting to make me feel sick. I usually have a good appetite for blood and gore but here it's starting to feel quite forced and unnecessary, I mean yes, the monster is going to rip out the flesh off the bones and suck the bones dry, he is a Zombie after all.
There are a lot of raving reviews for this book, but it's not what I expected, so it's a DNF for me. If you are really into zombies and the undead and are totally into blood-spilling and gory writing, then this book is for you. But it would do you good to keep in mind that this book has nothing more to offer.
You can also read this review at The Reading Bud.
I hate saying this but I have to leave this book alone for good as the it's really failing to keep up with the expectations I had before starting with it.
The writing is really good but the plot seems a little off and the whole monster's journey is really starting to make me feel sick. I usually have a good appetite for blood and gore but here it's starting to feel quite forced and unnecessary, I mean yes, the monster is going to rip out the flesh off the bones and suck the bones dry, he is a Zombie after all.
There are a lot of raving reviews for this book, but it's not what I expected, so it's a DNF for me. If you are really into zombies and the undead and are totally into blood-spilling and gory writing, then this book is for you. But it would do you good to keep in mind that this book has nothing more to offer.
You can also read this review at The Reading Bud.
January 25, 2016
Rose's powerful debut novel allows the reader to shadow a flesh-hungry monster in a post-apocalyptic world. The ghoulish protagonist has no bounds in his brutality, and yet he maintains a kind of innocence, causing one to question what is a monster and who is a hero. Rose's prose is exquisite and his compact narrative gratifyingly philosophical, bringing to mind Shelley's Frankenstein and Camus's The Stranger. I'm excited to read what Rose writes after Carrion. Enter the darkness if you dare.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews