The Slave Tree

by Alan Peter Ryan

Steeped deep in the culture of Brazil, The Slave Tree takes the reader on a journey unlike any they have ever experienced. The beauty of the lush tropical landscapes is exceptionally juxtaposed with blood-chilling shocks and terror.

The Slave Tree is a well-crafted tale of Amazon horror that harkens back to classic tales of literature such as Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad while being firmly rooted in the modern language of suspense.

This chilling final novel by Alan Peter Ryan is an absolute must-read and must-own for horror lovers, and a true tribute to his legacy.

312 pages, Hardcover

Published August 18, 2016

Reviews

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the risk of committing hyperbole, this may be one of the finest "literary" horror novels I've read. A wonderful exercise in metafiction, exhibiting a powerful sense of place, highly spiritual, and just finely crafted. A shame Alan Ryan passed shortly before its release, and a shame it never got the wider release it deserved.

[Corey Woodcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are no atheists in the forest primeval.

The Amazon rainforest is roughly the size of the contiguous United States. In a swath of land that size here in the US, we have temperate and subtropical deciduous forests, deserts, the Rocky Mountains, the Appalachian Mountains, vast swamplands, temperate rainforests, seemingly endless plains, boreal forests, even tropical islands in south Florida. You can travel across the US and see many of the different landscapes and biomes this planet has to offer.

Except tropical rainforests.

In (mostly) Brazil, but also Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and others, you can travel roughly this same distance and never leave the rainforest, most of which is in the Amazon basin—an endless, flat sea of green that is home to the majority of the planets land species. The city of Manaus, Brazil sits right in the middle of all of this—in a region with very few towns, or even outposts. There are still uncontacted tribes living here. The Amazon is without a doubt a mysterious, intriguing, and also terrifying piece of the planet for someone like me from the northeastern US. It’s easy to imagine that just about anything could be hiding in there.

The scale of it all is jaw-dropping, and Alan Ryan makes sure you understand this. The story itself is written from Ryan’s point of view, with himself as the main character, and revolves around a potentially terrifying find deep in the forests of Brazil. Through a certain twist of fate, Ryan ends up in the possession of a hundred year old journal of a man and his wife that discovered the unthinkable, and never made it out to tell their story. As things fall into place, he finds himself in a position to retrace their steps, to see this for himself, but the risk is enormous.

Ok so the basic premise isn’t especially unique. It’s been done before for sure. But it’s the way this book is crafted that makes it so special—Ryan is a veteran horror writer, releasing four novels and a few short story collections in the 1980s, and was hailed by writers like Stephen King and Peter Straub as one of the best upcoming horror writers at the time, and from what I’ve read his early novels are very good. But this book is a creative genre mishmash that combines horror with non-fiction and metafiction, creating an extremely powerful sense of setting here. He provides historical facts, and writes various places in Brazil, from Rio to Manaus to the sweltering expanse of the Amazon in a way that invites you along with him. It’s intimidating, impressive, and extremely interesting. The metafiction element here allows Ryan to reflect on his real life, his real books and the craft of writing, while telling this story. It all comes together to form one of the best novels I’ve read all year, maybe longer.

There’s no doubt this is a book I’ll return to. It does what it intends to do so well, and as Ryan feels the heat traveling through those winding tributaries in the Amazon basic, we get to follow along without having to worry about mosquitos or jaguars. Some of the imagery here is striking, some scenes are shocking, and Ryan even includes an afterword that tells about the writing of the book and his attempts to publish it. It’s such a shame that this never saw the wide release that it deserved—it should be being talked about in all the horror groups and pages. We ended up getting a very limited hardcover run from Cemetery Dance—and I’m extremely grateful they printed this, so I could read it—but it should’ve had a wide release, as this book is far better than a lot of what tops the charts. It’s a fantastically crafted work of art, and if you’re willing to take a chance on a $20-25 hardcover off of eBay, I’d urge you to go for it. It’s worth it

[Terry Roice · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Slave Tree by Alan Peter Ryan is well crafted and has interesting characters. The information about Brazil is well presented and informative. I enjoyed the book, but while the plot established intrigue all along, I have to say that I was disappointed with the ending. The mystery remains unexplained and left me dissatisfied.

[Michael Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading the novella this story is based around and thought it was just ok. This time around I enjoyed the characters and their journey to the Slave Tree. My main problem was the ending which seemed rushed and unsatisfying.

[Wayne's · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting taking a novella and building a novel around it. It sort of works although I'm not sure there is enough in the narrative to sustain it.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5