“…I’m going to find you Andrew. And I’ll wear your skin like a trophy.”
Out now from Speartip Publishing ‘The Return of Moloch’ is a radical departure from previous books I’ve read by Lee McGeorge and it swings wildly between rather deliberately mundane imagery and the kind of irreverent 1980s horror which made the careers of such writers as Shaun Hutson, Richard Laymon and Graham Masterton. The more bloodthirsty and dare I say it— older— among us could well be satisfied by this although a lot of the horror is initially more stated via flashback than actively immersive. That soon changes though and what we have is a very nasty book indeed, one which I believe will shock a lot of people for more reasons than just the horror content.
Is it a pastiche of the great and good from yesteryear? Not at all, as it’s politically very aware of the various moods of the present-day with Social Justice Warriors, Millennials and general assorted ‘snowflakes’ being targeted for hostile put-downs, as a result it comes across as slightly heavy going in places albeit with a distinct finger on the pulse of modern Britain. Although it’s very much a book of the here and now— very punchy and accurate, it has so many references which are destined to become short-lived that I fear it will in time prove rather dated. It’s also a book which is bound to offend a lot of people as the viewpoints within are at odds with one-another and the racist and sexist comments are probably going to be as repulsive to some readers as the often shockingly violent content would be. Is it all just following a trend for extreme horror though? I don’t think so, as although I have read quite a lot of extreme horror offerings I would say that The Return of Moloch has a much higher than average concept with a generally better quality of writing. It’s rather more intelligent than the general gore-fests and there is a much richer and more involved story which although primarily centred on a soldier and involving significant bloodshed wasn’t Gung-Ho stereotypical, instead being partly fact-checked by actual Paratroopers, so the attention to detail is there and above all else convincing, making for a much more rounded character in the main antagonist. I got around 40% of the way through and suddenly realised that there had been something missing since the beginning of the book — an actual hero. Leaving the titular Moloch aside, the main character is really the Paratrooper, John Prentice, who as a veteran of the Falklands conflict has quite literally been through the wars, which still has not fully prepared him for his encounter with the Demon Moloch. It’s an encounter which is a mutual fight for survival, with consequences which see Prentice in a situation where he is no longer free to pursue his life. When that time comes we see Prentice trying to adjust to a world which had passed him by as well as being part of another world he wouldn’t have believed existed. The last thing that Prentice could ever be is the hero of the hour— that much is made crystal clear very early on. The Return of Moloch actually has shades of Stephen King’s ‘Apt Pupil’ too as Prentice gets a young apprentice called Weston and has to train him to kill, it’s all darkly serious stuff with an internal logic which is gripping even though utterly repulsive. There are a couple of ‘heroes’ as such who do come into play later on and one of those is Andrew Moore, a former policeman Prentice stabbed 30 years previously in an encounter which left Moore psychically connected to Prentice. Also on the side of the good is Krisi, a female officer who, much to her annoyance is better known for being the face of a Police Campaign Poster than for her actual policing ability. All of the main characters, no matter how small their role in events may be, are well fleshed-out and believable, which is a good thing to read as it makes everything a no-brainer to just be lost in the story without hanging on to any personal flaws. There are plenty of ‘WTF’ moments and an ending which I wasn’t expecting at all; all in all it’s well worth the read and even though it’s around 63,000 words you probably won’t want to put it down once you’re into it and will devour it in a single sitting. Worthy of a 4.5 on the Gingernuts scale. 
For a chance to win one of 5 signed copies of The Return of Moloch simple retweet this tweet And comment on the tweet with which TV show you would love to see return.
k.com/leemcgeorge73
Many thanks to Lee McGeorge for the competition prizes. For more information on Lee please check out the links below
website and downloads: www.lee-mcgeorge.co.uk chat with the author: www.faceboo 
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