Review: Inside out or out? You decide...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 23, 2013
An edgy novella whose central character seems, from the outset, on the edge of both internal and external besiegement. After moving into a new place with her "everyman" partner, she begins experiencing strange episodes, which hint at both inner psychological anguish and very real supernatural phenomena. The story meanders, taking in new jobs and university meetings, library research and "chats with the neighbours", until the final reveal is, well, revealed, and the reader is left with lingering uncertainty about whether the events occurred in imagination or lived experience. It's *this* quality in Kane's prose and world-making that renders the tale more than the sum of its parts. There's more than the mystery of event going on here; there's the mystery of perception and experience, and whether this can be ascribed to the protagonist or her tangible world. It's told in a terse, snappy writing prose, which perfectly captures the lead character's immersion in everyday life and involuntarily troubled dreamscapes. I really enjoyed this debut novella by C S Kane and look forward to future work from the author. Occasionally some of the dialogue felt a little stilted and expositional, but that's a minor detraction from a solidly enjoyable and -- at times -- creepily unsettling tale.