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Slaughter
Spring, 1941 While Germany wages war overseas, in the small farming community of Wakarusa, Indiana, fifty-seven-year-old slaughterhouse owner Harold Jackson is on the verge of losing his business. In a desperate attempt to save his farm and the slaughterhouse, he has mortgaged his property and used the money to place an illegal bet on the Triple Crown series of races and a horse named Slaughter. Overworked and overcome with anxiety over finances and guilt following the death of his son Ronald, Harold Jackson is slowly losing his sanity. He's hearing a voice inside his mind, and as tension over the races builds, his insanity manifests in the form of a murderous talking pig named Homer. Though the pig exists solely in Harold's imagination, he emerges as a separate entity. Set in 1941 amongst the wealthy horseracing community in Lexington, Kentucky and in the struggling family farms of Indiana, Slaughter evokes a time and a place and tells a parallel tale of the madness that guilt induces and its possible outcomes. What if E. B. White had written Silence of the Lambs instead of Charlotte’s Web? Get a 'taste' of what that might have been like in Marcus F. Griffin's Slaughter.
- GenresHorror
312 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2009
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 14, 2011
A brilliant debut novel. Marcus F. Griffin has managed to take equal parts of Charlotte's Webb, Seabiscuit, and Silence of The Lamb to create a highly original if often gruesome tale of insanity, murder, and cute, or not-so-cute, talking animals. This is a page-turner of the best kind keeping me up to wee hours of the morning and in a giddy state of suspense. Slaughterhouse owner Harold Jackson is in danger of losing the farm and his mind. He speaks to a imaginary pig named Homer who has his own agenda of terror. In the balance lies the lives of Harold's wife and daughter, the animals on the farm, and a famous racehorse named Slaughter. All the human characters are well developed but it is the animals that steal the show especially Slaughter and two cats named Percy and Snowbell. There is quite a bit of humor but as the human and animal body counts rises the suspense and terror also rises. I can't remember when a first novel, especially one from an independent author, kept me so engrossed and on the edge of my seat.
There are some minor criticisms. The quick switches between the two parallel stories were at first a bit dizzying but as the book developed I became used to it, especially when they merged together about half-way through. Secondly, in an attempt to propel the plot forward, the author sometimes hints to a few major twists a little too early. I would have preferred to be totally surprised at some of the twists and turns. Lastly, the minor sub-plot around a conspiring pig named Zeppelin left me confused, wondering if there was any real reason for it except to make a clever allusion to Animal Farm. There are actually a number of little in jokes, such as when the sheriff finds a woman's wheelbarrow, that will make the informed reader giggle. Most of them work well. Yet, with even my very minor complaints, this shocker of a novel moves along like a runaway freight train and will please even the most hardened horror fan. I also want to mention the excellent pachaging of this book. Beautiful cover graphics and a paperback binding that speaks of quality makes this a book to buy and own.
And one more thing. You Hollywood movie types should grab the rights to this novel immediately. A generation raised on Charlotte's Web and Babe is craving for a film about a talking homicidal demon pig.
There are some minor criticisms. The quick switches between the two parallel stories were at first a bit dizzying but as the book developed I became used to it, especially when they merged together about half-way through. Secondly, in an attempt to propel the plot forward, the author sometimes hints to a few major twists a little too early. I would have preferred to be totally surprised at some of the twists and turns. Lastly, the minor sub-plot around a conspiring pig named Zeppelin left me confused, wondering if there was any real reason for it except to make a clever allusion to Animal Farm. There are actually a number of little in jokes, such as when the sheriff finds a woman's wheelbarrow, that will make the informed reader giggle. Most of them work well. Yet, with even my very minor complaints, this shocker of a novel moves along like a runaway freight train and will please even the most hardened horror fan. I also want to mention the excellent pachaging of this book. Beautiful cover graphics and a paperback binding that speaks of quality makes this a book to buy and own.
And one more thing. You Hollywood movie types should grab the rights to this novel immediately. A generation raised on Charlotte's Web and Babe is craving for a film about a talking homicidal demon pig.
October 9, 2010
A slow and instantly curious start that was soooo worth my time. Now, I am not a fan of horse racing yet this book had me hooked. The characters really grabbed me and I find that amusing to say considering that half were talking animals. I loved the true horror, the gory and shocking bits, the suspense. There was one scene with Sheriff Orwell and Richard dreaming that had me so hooked, I jumped a foot in the air when my cat meowed behind me. Oh, and Percy was easily my favorite character.
I realize this isn't really a review, more of a gush without spoilers, but I'm ok with that. Read this if you are a horror fan.
I realize this isn't really a review, more of a gush without spoilers, but I'm ok with that. Read this if you are a horror fan.
May 27, 2012
It's rare that one finds a novel that transcends a single genre, taking elements from both and becoming ever so much more than the sum of its parts. Marcus Griffin's SLAUGHTER is, quite simply, a remarkable work. To say that this book is ANIMAL FARM meets THE SHINING is both true and insufficient. Griffin does something truly unique and bizarrely entertaining.
Horror fans beware. Although SLAUGHTER is definitely a horror novel, it doesn't start out that way. In fact, for the first three-quarters of the book you'll be scratching your head and trying to figure out just what the heck is going on. You'll be enjoying the journey; you just won't have any idea where you're headed. Trust the author; Griffin knows EXACTLY what he's doing.
Griffin writes mostly in "sound bytes", usually in short scenes of a page or two at most (and sometimes less) before switching to another character's point of view. This might be an annoying style in a lesser writer but here it is a tool which Griffin deftly wields. There are several plot lines, all interesting but seemingly unrelated, and dozens of characters, many of whom seem to have no connection. Slowly, inexorably and skillfully everything comes together in a way which is both surprising yet inevitable.
Even the climax of the book, a veritable blood bath a la Stephen King, takes on an ambiance of originality. There's a wonderful almost satiric subtext which runs through the book and which culminates at the peak of the final action sequence. Yet because Griffin's writing style is so simple and clean, one never feels like one is being preached to. Griffin makes his points subtly but clearly, keeping his prose at about high school level--a technique that works beautifully in much the same way that RAGTIME's ineffably simple prose was so captivating.
Rarely do I tell people to go out and get track down a book. Most often, I merely relate whether or not I think a novel is a worthwhile read and whether or not I enjoyed it. SLAUGHTER is the exception. If you are a fan of the horror genre, especially of interesting horror, you should actively seek out SLAUGHTER.
Horror fans beware. Although SLAUGHTER is definitely a horror novel, it doesn't start out that way. In fact, for the first three-quarters of the book you'll be scratching your head and trying to figure out just what the heck is going on. You'll be enjoying the journey; you just won't have any idea where you're headed. Trust the author; Griffin knows EXACTLY what he's doing.
Griffin writes mostly in "sound bytes", usually in short scenes of a page or two at most (and sometimes less) before switching to another character's point of view. This might be an annoying style in a lesser writer but here it is a tool which Griffin deftly wields. There are several plot lines, all interesting but seemingly unrelated, and dozens of characters, many of whom seem to have no connection. Slowly, inexorably and skillfully everything comes together in a way which is both surprising yet inevitable.
Even the climax of the book, a veritable blood bath a la Stephen King, takes on an ambiance of originality. There's a wonderful almost satiric subtext which runs through the book and which culminates at the peak of the final action sequence. Yet because Griffin's writing style is so simple and clean, one never feels like one is being preached to. Griffin makes his points subtly but clearly, keeping his prose at about high school level--a technique that works beautifully in much the same way that RAGTIME's ineffably simple prose was so captivating.
Rarely do I tell people to go out and get track down a book. Most often, I merely relate whether or not I think a novel is a worthwhile read and whether or not I enjoyed it. SLAUGHTER is the exception. If you are a fan of the horror genre, especially of interesting horror, you should actively seek out SLAUGHTER.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews