Dark Resurrection

We live in wonderful times, my friends. The writers who made a living churning out those venerable DESTROYERs, TRAVELERs and DEATHLANDS books that comprised my geeky youth weren’t under any real obligation to hit a high mark. Actually, those three titles (plus GOR – what the hell happened to GOR?! Did they make a movie and I missed it?) sometimes succeed in spite of themselves. That’s the magic of genre fiction.

But now, we’ve got self-publishing and the small press. You’ve got freedom to write whatever you desire, and if you put enough heart and passion in it, maybe scream loud enough, someone will take note. But here’s the real good part: the stuff that finds its way to BOOKGASM is more about the passion than we have any right to expect. Case in point: DARK RESURRECTION by John A. Karr.

Karr gets kudos for warning me on the back that his book contains dark themes, graphic violence, gore, and a smattering of explicit sex. (Remember, kids, there’s no good way to write a sex scene without it sounding sleazy.) As for the violence and gore, I’m pretty desensitized already. I didn’t let it get in the way of a good read.

If zombies came back from the dead to feed off the living, they’d probably be working in emergency rooms. Probably in Cleveland. Karr’s twisted horror tale takes place in a different state, but the undead are still at work, bringing the inherit creepiness of organ harvesting to an entirely different level.

Victor Galloway, a prominent surgeon, suffers a fatal heart attack. Unfortunately, he winds up in the undead E.R., where his skills in vivisection are in great demand by Tobias, the head sadist in charge. Galloway may be a monster in kind, but not in spirit. There’s no ponytail, frilly dressed undead here – it’s the venal, wretched undead. In fact, one of the memorable scenes of the book is what they do to turn the good Dr. Galloway undead. Let’s just say it’s kind of a transplant …

Anyway, while Dr. Galloway struggles to destroy his captors and save himself, there’s another force at work: Ray, a guy who takes a day job at the hospital. Unfortunately, he’s not yet aware of the fact that most of his co-workers are undead. (Hey, man, it happens. I worked third shift at a gas station when I dropped out of college the first time. Sometimes, you just want the check to clear.) Anyway, Ray slowly uncovers the evil at foot, while Dr. Galloway works on the inside.

Karr does a good job of keeping the action moving to its nihilistic ending. The only criticism I could point out is that at times, Ray’s entry into the story seemed rather forced, as if there were two shorter stories merged into one. It’s a petty complaint. Buy the book. Karr has a lot more wicked tales to come, full of all the hearts, guts and spinal remains any horror fan could desire. –Matt Adder

Buy it at Amazon.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Related posts:

1. Dark Gold
2. Portraits in the Dark
3. Q&A with DARK DELICACIES’ Del Howison
4. Dark Warrior Rising
5. Dark Harvest

About Matt Adder