BOOK REVIEW: EDGE OF THE KNOWN BUS LINE BY JAMES R GAPINSKI

BOOK REVIEW: EDGE OF THE KNOWN BUS LINE BY JAMES R GRABINSKI

27/8/2018

BY TONY JONES

BOOK REVIEW: EDGE OF THE KNOWN BUS LINE BY JAMES R GRABINSKI Picture

If you read this outstanding novella, you will NEVER EVER catch the wrong bus again!

James R Grabinski's “Edge of the Known Bus Line” was an unexpected joy which I wholeheartedly recommend to those of you wishing to discover a longish novella which is a genuine 100% one-off. I can also just about guarantee you will love this off-beat tale as much as myself! Initially though, I cursed Grabinski and his publisher for sending a PDF instead of a MOBI, but not letting that dampen my spirits I was quickly absorbed by the sass and spirit of the nameless female narrator who unwittingly and unluckily gets stuck in a shanty town which is impossible to escape from.

I would not necessarily call this horror, more a weird mix of (almost) dystopia, black comedy, Ray Bradbury, and a large sprinkling of JG Ballard. The latter because the most obvious comparison and point of reference to this highly original work I could think of was Ballard’s “The Concrete Island” about a guy who gets stuck in the middle of a massive traffic island. This book was way funnier than the Ballard though and really deserves to find an audience.

It’s quite difficult to explain what it’s about, but I’ll try my best… The unnamed female narrator works in a deli and is on her daily bus to work. This is the same bus she gets every day, sharing it with familar other daily commuters. One day she notices the bus has a different sign on it with “Out of Service” written on the front, presuming this is a mistake she unwisely ignores it. After a while the bus takes a slightly different route and when there are only a few passengers remaining on board it goes through a tunnel and everyone realises they have no idea where they are. The bus driver then, at gun point, dumps the passengers in the middle of this remote shanty town, “End of the Line” says the driver. One passenger tries to re-enter the bus and is shot and killed by the driver. We soon find out this dump of a location is called “End of the Line”.

Once they are off the bus the narrator looks around and is horrified by what she sees. Most people are starving, the kids are naked, and in no time at all her fellow passengers are robbed of all their belongings and most of their clothes. She is soon told that to survive she’ll have to join a gang and quickly realises there is no way of leaving this shanty town. She gives permanent nicknames to all the characters featured, including “Tarp Woman” and “Condom Eye” who give her some hints and tips on how to survive in the soul-destroying place. Ultimately this very funny novella is about the narrator trying to escape the shanty town, whilst at the same time trying to figure out how to survive in it. She also made me think of the Patrick McGoohan character in the 1960s cult series “The Prisoner” who spends every episode of the show plotting to escape, and who is also nameless.

As luck would have it her real job working in a deli saves her, as she is skilled with a knife and gets a job working for one of the bigger gangs skinning rats, which is the most consistent feature of their diet. I loved the way she named everyone, a few included “Newspaper Guy” “Napping Woman” “Ass Staring Guy” and we never found out their real names. As she tries to escape and tries to get her head around the impossible bus system, “Bus Driver” “Other Driver” and Another Driver” are humorously added into the mix.

I don’t want to say too much more about what goes on except for the fact it is blackly funny with the author creates this weird world with all sorts of crazy rules people follow to survive. Expect routine cannibalism, a prophet who sits on a toilet seat for a throne, hallucinogenic spiders, worshipping of baseball memorabilia, and the dream of the “miracle bus” with Chicago the ultimate destination.

Combine the unique voice of the narrator and a brilliant setting the final product is a genuinely original piece of fiction which impressed me greatly. What was our narrator’s major strength? HOPE!!!! She never gave up trying to survive or escape…. Amusingly, she saw her bra as her final sign of humanity and did everything possible to hold onto it when all her other personal belongings had been pilfered.

Did I say her name was never revealed? Ah well, make sure you hang in to the end, I might be lying….

Highly recommended. The spirit of Ballard lives on and we’re all the better for it. I loved it. If Ginger Nuts of Horror rated books this gets 6/5.

Tony Jones

A woman's daily commute takes an abrupt turn when she's dropped off in a grotesque shantytown in Edge of the Known Bus Line. The townsfolk live in huts and tents scavenged from broken trinkets. They eat dead rats and human flesh. They've developed cult-like religions about miracle bus routes that will someday set them free. The narrator searches for a way out of this surreal hellscape while dredging up a few nightmares of her own.