 Is it possible to ever read a book without some preconceived misconceptions? Suppose you read the back cover copy for S.A. Barnes latest novel Dead Silence. In that case, you could easily be forgiven for thinking that you are about to read a novel that riffs on such films as Ghost Ship. By the time you reach the third half of this, you could easily be forgiven that thinking you are about t take a deep dive into an Event Horizon piece of fan fiction. I'll admit that I had some concerns about how the story was going to unfold at this point. Did I want to invest my time in a book that felt like I had read the plot a million times before? My preconceived thoughts about the book were fighting with the enjoyment I was having reading it, which sounds odd; I know, why would you stop reading a book that you enjoyed? But when you have hundreds of other books waiting to be read, do you want to invest your limited reading time reading a book that you have read so many times before from other authors. I almost put the book aside, but there was something special in Barnes' writing style, and more importantly, Barnes had created a fascinating main character in Claire Kovalic. These were enough for me to keep Dead Silence in my hands, and oh boy, was I so glad I did. Dead Silence is a wonderfully multilayered science fiction horror thriller; However, most of the horror doesn't appear directly on the page; the true horror of the story comes from how the characters are used by their employers to discover the truth about what happened to the luxury space liner. I won't say too much more about this as the story's truth is perhaps one of the bravest moves in plot development that the author could have taken. Barnes could easily have taken the safer, more well-travelled path in terms of narrative structure, and to be honest, it would have still resulted in a highly entertaining story. However, the massive curveball she throws into the mix is a pure stroke of genius. It not only elevates Dead Silence beyond the trappings of readers expectations in where the story is going, but it also gets the author out of a tight spot. There were many other ways the author could have taken the story. Still, all of the ones playing out in my head all felt somewhat lacklustre and filled with too many problems in terms of how it could lead to a successful and fulfilling conclusion. I'll put my head on the line here and say that it was one of the best reveals I've read in recent times, it might annoy some readers, but if you look critically at the narrative of the story, it fits perfectly. As mentioned earlier, Barnes has created a fascinating protagonist in Claire Kovalic; unreliable narrators are always an intriguing hook on which to hang the narrative onto, and Claire is a truly fascinating character. Deeply traumatised by previous events, she is stronghanded into leading the salvage mission. Haunted by the ghosts of her past, can we genuinely believe what she sees? Claire could easily have been portrayed as another kickass Ripley or Pvt. Vasquez hellbent on revenge on the forces that slaughtered her previous crew. While these two character tropes are fun to experience, the more relatable way Claire handled it brings more humanity to the story. I mean, who among you would turn into an all-action hero after witnessing the whole of your off-world settlement being callously left to die and then watching as your salvage crew are picked off by mysterious forces while attempting to salvage a ship filled with the corpses of its crew and passengers. Truthfully you'd be a nervous wreck; I know I would be. Barnes handles Claire's trauma with a sensitive and thoughtful eye, which can only come from a writer writing from the heart, from personal experience. Anxiety and fear are crippling conditions that make you take some very odd and somewhat stupid decisions, and it was an utter joy to see a protagonist that was so easy to relate to and get behind. Dead Silence is one of those horror novels that gleefully plays with genre tropes and the reader's expectations, tightly written, brimming with fascinating ideas, and a razor-sharp critique of big business and insignificance of us mere grunts. This is a haunting story that allows the tension to build at a perfect rate, dropping in some genuinely grotesque imagery along the way to a fitting and perfect ending. Any concerns I had about this story were blown out of the airlock long before I finished reading this deeply entertaining novel, Dead Silence, is so good you should all be screaming about it. They used to say, "In space, no one can hear you scream," after reading Dead Space, it should be, "Even if they did, they just don't care." Dead Silence |
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