BOOK REVIEW: ​Manifest Recall by Alan Baxter

BOOK REVIEW: Manifest Recall by Alan Baxter

7/6/2018

BY TONY JONES

MANIFEST REACALL BY AQLAN BAXTER BOOK REVIEW Picture

“A vicious revenge thriller told out of sequence, which pulls no punches"

Alan Baxter’s latest release “Manifest Recall” is the literary equivalent of a vicious kick in the nether regions, or if you hail from my Scottish homeland the famous ‘Glaswegian kiss’. Thankfully it’s a relatively short read, and the punches wing in thick and fast, so you should hopefully escape with a few superficial cuts and bruises. But afterwards, whilst your better half gently tends to your aches and pains, you’ll be wishing you could go a few more rounds with damaged enforcer Eli Carver.

First up, if you’ve looking for a book which is deep, meaningful, thoughtful with characters who throw smoky stares at each other over a nice glass of red wine then look elsewhere, you’ve got the wrong book. “Manifest Recall” has more in common with a brutal barfight with a sledgehammer than anything else and wears its violent heart bleeding on its sleeve. To quote another reviewer who nails it on the head: “bad people doing bad things to other bad people”. Don’t expect pillow fighting. There are no good guys. Not even our man Eli.

In the style of the great film “Memento” we are introduced to Eli Carver in the middle of a major personality crisis. Having had some sort of unspecified breakdown, his memory is fractured, but soon he recalls killing a man when he was 28 years old. But was that murder yesterday or ten years ago? Moving on, the assassinations past and present begin to pile up. Eli’s memory returns sporadically, an important device used to spill key elements of the backstory, and he also has blackouts which can last for hours or longer. Whilst he is in one of these trances he is even more dangerous than usual and that’s saying something.

The novella opens with Eli in a beat-up of car with an attractive young woman whom he doesn’t recognise, but who most certainly knows him. Her reaction is a combination of fear, familiarity and severely pissed off. As his memory returns he remembers the woman as the step-daughter of his gangster boss Vernon Sykes, a young woman he has known since she was a child. So, what’s she doing with him? I’m not going to go into any further with plot spoilers but be prepared for an unrelenting, brutal, and vicious assault which by the time you get to the final pages has a huge body count. Something about the ruthless efficiency of the killing machine Eli reminded me of the Keanu Reeves character “John Wick”.

“Manifest Recall” isn’t strictly a horror novel, but as layers of ugly truth are peeled back and dark secrets are revealed, there is a lot of horror on offer and the scene in which we discover the reason for Eli’s meltdown is totally uncompromising. It’s also powerfully written and will knock the stuffing out of the most hardened horror freak. The story does have some supernatural overtones with Eli seeing, and having imaginary conversations with some of his own victims, all of which want him dead. Through very fast paced storytelling, and a masterful economy of words, Baxter balances Eli’s own guilt with his need for revenge in a high quality and very readable thriller which you’ll whizz through in no time.

Will Eli Carver return for a second outing? I hope so… “Manifest Recall” has a very cool and satisfying ending but there is definite scope for this very likeable bad boy to bounce back and cause more mayhem. If you enjoy unrelenting, almost comic book action, with an atmospheric urban setting this novella is a top quality read.

Tony Jones