A.J.Leehart

This review first appeared on scifiandscary.com.

‘The Gorge’ was an entertaining read and, for the first half at least, a gripping and focussed one. It’s also decidedly English in a way I really liked. The rural setting and weird country goings on are reminiscent of classic movie ‘The Wicker Man’ and surreal TV show ‘The League of Gentlemen’ (which gets a reference). It plays out a little like the British equivalent of US movies like ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ and ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, but at a slightly calmer pace and with a surreal edge. Like Tobe Hooper’s film the meat industry plays a big part and a lot of the characters don’t make it to the end.

It tells the story of Sam and Jackie, a young couple with a baby on the way who move to the remote village of Dartley. Sam carries the physical and mental scars of the war in Afghanistan and the secrets of his past play a big part in the story. The first half of the book focuses on the couple, the tensions between them and Sam’s struggles against his demons. Their relationship is convincing and nicely written, playing against the increasingly menacing surroundings of Dartley. The village is definitely reminiscent of ‘The League of Gentlemen’s’ Rosyton Vasey in both its bleak Northern setting and its grotesque cast of characters and locales. There’s a creepy priest, a one-eyed nurse, Sam’s co-worker who surprises him by spontaneously stripping off and spreading her legs, a weird zoo populated only by hybrid species, and The Factory, the grim abattoir that dominates the town. All of this works well, the tension gradually builds and there’s a wonderful darkness to it all which I really enjoyed. It helps that Sam and Jackie are sympathetic characters that I found myself caring about. There’s also an engaging moderness to the book, references to technology and social media make it feel like it’s taking place in the real world of today.

It’s in the second half, when the book’s focus broadens to include a number of other players, that I found my attention wondering. I was happy to suspend my disbelief for the surreal events in Dartley, but when author AJ Leehart introduced a colourful assassin, a corrupt MP and all manner of thriller-style antics I lost interest. Events quickly got confusing and the characters started blurring together for me. By the end of the book I found myself wishing it had been shorter and simpler. That’s not to say that there isn’t fun to be had in the second half, a lot of the elements that have been teased earlier in the book come to the fore and the revelation about what’s really happening in Dartkey is grimly entertaining (if a little obvious). There are some great set pieces too, Leehart has a talent for writing gore that brought to mind her predecessor in the UK horror field, James Herbert.

‘The Gorge’ fails to live up to the promise of its first half, but it’s still an entertaining read for horror fans. It’s engaging, nasty fun and I’ll definitely look out for more from Leehart in the future.

Amazon Review of The Gorge:

This is my first book read in the horror genre. And I must tell I found it enjoyable and fascinating. Caves, mystery, history, madness, gore, religion, madness… all these have been packed by the author in a captivating story that keeps the reader with the eyes into book and at times makes his breathing stop. After a brutal intro, the reader is left with questions: “What the hell? What is the connection between that scene and our hero? Was that what I though it is?”, questions that are answered slowly, one by one, as the story progresses. Although I tried (I usually do when it comes to fiction), I liked the fact that I could not predict how the story goes until the very end. But there are some aspects that I precisely anticipated. I remember I have seen an episode of X-Files a couple of decades go that resembled very much with this one. Mulder and Scully were sent to investigate an epidemic of brain cancer (if I remember correctly; a rare disease in any case) in a small town where people were living strangely long and they looked younger than normal. Moreover, the reader will guess some things if you saw the movie The Book of Eli.

I also liked that it did not contained supernatural elements. While the characters in the book do act as if there is a supernatural element, in the end the horror proves to be only man-made. This makes the book even better in my opinion since it portrays a possible reality.

And last but not least, I liked how at times the author plays with the reader’s nerves. There is a scene in a bar (I’ll not spoil anything), when the main character sees something in the other’s eyes. When I read that part I was like: “Oh my God! Here it comes!” But then immediately all deflated and after the scene was over I laughed. Brilliant!