Review: A brutal concept, beautifully executed and brilliantly conceived
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 14, 2013
This is one of those polarizing stories you'll likely love or hate from the get-go. A story that was very reminiscent to me of early Clive Barker in both mood, substance and artistic merit. It also has a quote in the front from author Thomas Ligotti, another writer who knows how to mix horror with avant garde.An eccentric artist named Thomas Krieg has designed a fiendish underground labyrinth in a place named Nowhere, Indiana where children must find food secreted within the twisted three dimensional passages. Krieg under a cloak of silence sells access to view his "physical artwork" for seven figures to a man utterly possessed with seeing it out of sadistic pleasure. Mix in an English man who calls himself Mr. No One as the financier and pro-nihilist of the maze and man hellbent on unleashing a dark eldritch deity. Rounding out the cast is an all-too-eager assistant cum henchman of Krieg's all-too-willing to do his bidding. Put all this in a blender plus two young boys trapped below who see the people in the light above as angels and you've got tension and conflict brewing in every nook and cranny.This clever novella sucked me in and trapped me like I was inside the maze. I loved that it was different, paced unapologetic and breathless, never quite allowing the reader to get away from the tension. What little exposition exists is woven in almost seamlessly. As a reader who looks for and greatly appreciates fiction that takes big risks, this was a winner from start to finish for me. Experimental, entertaining, disturbing and will make readers reread looking for hidden meaning and symbolism. 1,025 Kindle locations. Highly recommended for dark fiction readers who like unusual, non-mainstream reads.