Disclosure:
I received a copy of Butchers from the author in return for review consideration. He gave me no money, nor in any way influenced or attempted to influence my thoughts on his work – those are 100% my own for better or worse. A great big thank you to Todd for reaching out to me!
Edition:
Paperback
Synopsis:
Kidnapped, turned, and locked away in a concrete basement, high school student Sey-Mi is taught the ways of the damned. Her captors, beautiful and malignant, cruel and insane, torture her until she pledges allegiance to the Gwanlyo, a secret organization of vampires now obsessed with bringing her into their ranks. Enter Cheol Yu and Hyeri, rogue members who want to liberate vampires and set them upon humankind like a plague. Their first act of rebellion is to persuade Sey-Mi to join them in their twisted objective of unraveling this draconian society of the dead. Before they can do that, they will have to dodge the Natural Police, an order within the Gwanlyo whose objective is to hunt down and butcher any vampires that break the organization’s strict rules, and who are currently tracking Cheol Yu for murdering one of their own. Hyeri, who is no stranger to the organization’s wicked methods of agonizing punishment, is hell-bent on bringing them down, and is prepared to lead Cheol Yu through the dark, abandoned streets of the Gwanlyo’s compound where Sey-Mi is being held captive. She doesn’t intend to go in unarmed, however. Hyeri has a plan – one that might just burn the Gwanlyo to the ground. Will Sey-Mi place her loyalties in the Gwanlyo that rules through terror? Will she side with rebellious conspirators who strive to bring hell to the world? Or will she carve out her own path through the flesh and bone of anyone who stands in her way? Find out in Butchers, a novella of extreme horror.
Man…that synopsis came from GoodReads, and is damn near as long as the book itself.
My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. Right there at the start, there’s really no indication of the horrors that you’re in for. It doesn’t become apparent until you’ve read a bit that this is a story about vampires (unless you’ve already that MASSIVE GoodReads synopsis, then…you know a lot of things already).
It is also not immediately apparent who you’re supposed to be rooting for straight off, which I really liked as well. I’m always in for a wee bit of misdirection here or there in a story – it goes far in keeping me engaged. This book definitely isn’t trite or predictable. Setting it in Korea was also fun for me – I don’t visit there often (mentally, of course – physically I don’t visit anywhere – I’m not exactly rolling in riches over here), but lately I’ve found myself reading a few books set in Seoul, specifically (I have another review for a novel set there coming out in April). I’ve really enjoyed learning a bit about the culture through books and movies over the years.
That being said, for a novella, the world-building here is pretty damned impressive. The small geographic area in which most of the story takes place feels incredibly real, but without being over-explained. Do you know what I mean? Like, I felt like I was there, but without that feeling of ‘why the absolute hell would it be relevant to me to know how many individual ceiling tiles there are.’
Also, I seriously love that cover. It’s so simple, but really striking. I just can’t stop staring at it. I love the colors, the font, the silhouettes, all of it.
My only issue (which I can’t really call a complaint) with this story is that I think it could have benefited from a few extra pages. I just…wasn’t ready to be done with it yet. And maybe a bit of deep exploration into the history, structure, etc. of the Gwanlyo – and specifically the Natural Police. Look, frankly, I’m just super interested in this shadowy organization, okay?
Sullivan has built a really interesting world filled with vampires that aren’t quite like the vampires I’ve seen up til now. I really, really enjoyed it, and I hope that there will be another entry to the world of the Gwanlyo sometime in the future. I’d certainly read it!
About the Author:
Todd Sullivan attended his first serious writing class in 1995 at Stanford University. Between 1997 and 2002, he participated in the National Book Foundation’s 10 day summer writing retreats. In 2006, he graduated with a Bachelors in English with Concentrations in Creative Writing from Georgia State University. He moved to New York that same year, and received a Masters of Fine Arts from Queens College in Flushing, New York in 2009. Todd moved to Jeju, South Korea, where he taught English in the public school system for five years. He currently lives in Seoul, and is studying the Korean language at Yonsei University. He is also working on a speculative fiction/urban horror novel that takes place in Korea.
Rating:
Do yourself a solid – don’t sleep on this one if you like vampires, but you don’t like them of the sparkly, lovey variety. Go forth and pick up a copy!
Butchers By Todd Sullivan Nightmare Press ISBN: 1733548270 Published: November 21, 2019 Paperback, e-book 108 Pages
What a great review. I love these kind of books. thank you so much for sharing.