Saturday, July 31, 2010

Pretty Little Dead Things by Gary McMahon

Pretty Little Dead Things by Gary McMahon is due this November from Angry Robot (£7.99); for the electronically minded, it will also be available as an ebook. Q: What's it about? A: Thomas Usher, a man who can see the dead.

Thomas Usher, a normal, average man, is involved in a tragic accident and his wife and daughter are killed. But then: "Usher is no longer normal. Or average. Now he can see the dead, and the dead can see him. They seek him out to help them, to usher them to the next level so they might face whatever comes next. The lost. The lonely. The departed. They never speak to him; they only ever demand his attention. [And] he is compelled to help them in the hope that he might once again see his family. But sometimes, just sometimes, it isn’t enough and his efforts make things worse.

His name is Thomas Usher. He is an usher for the dead. It’s who he is. It’s what he does."

Christopher Fowler says: "Pretty Little Dead Things is a very disturbing read. Gary McMahon seems intent on taking readers through the looking glass and tearing down the walls between the living and the dead. He creates dark, hallucinatory images that burn in your brain forever."

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