56 Seconds

by Dani Brown

So much can happen in 56 seconds, 4 seconds shy of a minute… …a life of lingering lust, and love lost in the night. Everything and nothing, all in such a short amount of time. A neon-drenched fever dream that explores the noisy underbelly of EBM clubs, flesh obsessions, excessive alcohol consumption, and the perversions that fire off like exploding synapses. Warehouses soaked in a collective sweaty wetness slowly churn thick into a honey that sticks forever to the tongue. Flies consume the sweet stenches in search of their own love to turn bitter. Two members of the opposite sex wander through a haze of artificial fog to tango with lost pleasures – weaving a tapestry of footwork that twists time around the hands on the clock: 56 seconds. Repeated, like too many revolutions in a twirl. And the most important of all: love/lust lost in technology – cellphones with cameras, romance left to rewind and highlight the isolated pleasures of pain, then snapshot the few seconds lost – to remember for 56 seconds, and a lifetime. Deleted. Blocked. Rejected.

Dani Brown concocts a tale that is the literary equivalent of Gaspar Noe’s work in cinema. A true l’enfant terribles in pique-form, as she controls her prose with a true purpose: exploring the seedy side of human nature, Brown shows us a world with bright strobing lights, loud music, sex-fueled aggressions, and the disturbances that come with living in a technological world. Never has so much happened in less than a minute than the steamy madness of 56 Seconds. Enter through the dilapidated door and witness this eerily erotic, darkly comedic, and excessively strange story that would satiate the palettes of Andy Warhol and Bosch alike. Prepare to get WET. Don’t put your tongue on the STICKY stuff.

Genres: Horror

108 pages, Paperback

Published August 24, 2018

Reviews

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Similar to a William Burroughs’s Naked Lunch, the story itself is almost secondary to the literary style presented. It is a series of short, staccato, sentences, one quickly overlapping the other. It collects a mosaic of images, similar to a strobe light, which gives the reader a half-blind view of this world. 56 second snippets which piece together a narrative of undying love and hate, of scents and sensations, of sex and death- all on a fog filled dance floor, to the gyrations of a washed up D.J.

The narrative is best revealed if you read the story out loud at a rapid pace. Let it wash over you and all sorts of oddities are revealed. The nature of the 56 seconds, of all the actions which are possible in that time frame, revolves around the narrative like a pounding beat. I found this story intriguing in the same fashion as Virginia Woolf’s “A Haunted House”. A great, different, kind of read with an underlying menace throughout.

[Angel Medina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most interesting books I've read. It all has to do with 56 seconds and what can happen within that time frame. However, what caught my attention was the style it was written in. I felt like I was experiencing the story as I was reading it. A story about sex and death. The story shows the dark side of what a night out can result in.

This is a dark book in nature, so keep that in mind before reading. It's a short read that can be finished in a day, but boy does it take you on a trip. The bottled fog at the beginning is only the tip of the iceberg of what you can expect!

[Shannon Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who are intrigued by the fusion of extreme horror with eroticism and are looking for a story that challenges conventional storytelling, “56 Seconds” is a must-read. It’s a bold and unapologetic piece of literature that will undoubtedly provoke thought and discussion among its readers.

[Louise Storey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such an interesting read and definitely more literary than fun. The writing has you more or less feeling like you are some sort of trip in that club along with DJ Donnie. Would recommend to anyone who wants a quick but different novel.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow really loved this

[Erin]

I just don’t think I’m smart enough for this story.