Book review: ‘Empties’ by George Zebrowski
We don’t get sent books a great deal from publishers, but when we do they tend to be superb. This excellent hardcover of George Zebrowski’s latest, ‘Empties’ is beautiful even before you start reading it. The edition is printed on heavy stock with a very glossy and well composed dust-jacket.
Despite the book’s scant length (only 165 pages), George Zebrowski’s ‘Empties’ is a great read, harkening back to the days of shorter novels without a hint of filler. This is something that many of today’s writers could do with taking note of. Just because a book is 700 pages long, it ain’t necessarily good.
This one is. It’s creepy as hell. Following a detective who is on the trail of a brutal killer. Bodies are turning up without their brains. The book starts out as a pretty grim but pretty straightforward murder mystery with an interesting lead character in William Benek, but around the page 50 mark we are thrown into a maelstrom of madness and violence that doesn’t really let up until the shocking finale.
You really get a sense of Benek’s frustration as the bodies pile up while he can’t do a thing about it. He doesn’t have enough evidence against his suspect for a conviction, and this the chaos continues.
‘Empties’ is essentially a noir thriller with a vicious horror edge to it. Zebrowski’s prose is fluid and to the point, with none of the flab of some contemporary authors. Yes, there is a supernatural element to the story, but it is a little sidelined in favour of the main plot. This works very well, giving the whole tale a macabre edge, with the strange forces mentioned in passing, but never taking centre stage. This makes events so much more powerful.
The development of the Benek character is compelling and harrowing, and with the pace picking up a great deal after the somewhat quiet opening, you’re rarely allowed to catch your breath. This is no-nonsense storytelling that only someone of Zebrowski’s stature can manage.
Empties by George Zebrowski, Golden Gryphon Press, 2009, ISBN: 978-1-930846-59-3 (Available through Gazelle Book Services in the UK)
Thanks to Gazelle Book services for sending this in!
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