The Last Days of Jack Sparks

The author is already dead. Is it because of an exorcism gone wrong? Because of Jack's reckless behavior, his drug use? No matter the answer, the ride you take to get there is exciting and unnerving.

This is a book that should have so many more eyes on it than it does! Some of my least favorite troupes are in this book but are done well! Unreliable Narrator, Unlikeable main character, Found manuscript, an “editor” as a second narrator are all present here but are perfectly crafted together!

This is what I wanted House of Leaves to be in the way of style. Every piece builds on the other. There is no fluff here. Not a single scene that could be removed without affecting the story. Which is super rare to see anymore.

And I can honestly say that there were parts of this that gave me the creeps, hardcore! Which is hard to do.

I was pleasantly surprised at the main character's back story. That was nuanced and felt incredibly real. It was peppered into the book in stages, no info dumps here. You see those layers fit together as you start to get why Jack is the way he is. The author didn't take any shortcuts with Jack's psychology.

And while there is a bit of body horror here, it isn't gratuitous. It all has a purpose and it isn't described to a point of nauseous! It also isn't in every scene.

I do wonder if the author uses the Save the Cat beats to outline or edit his work? Because this fits perfectly into the mold and he is a screenwriter as well. Either way, though the story was structured to perfection and edited to be immersive and creepy.

The bottom line is read this book. It is one of my new favorite horror novels.

And for any other Whovians out there, I especially challenge you to this read. The nods to Doctor Who are subtle, except for one part where Jack actually brings up Doctor Who. But if you look under the hood I think you will see some inspiration that was uniquely taken and molded into a different kind of monster.