Snake Eyes by Joseph D'Lacey

For the most of my reading selections I play it safe, in the words of Peter Gabriel  I know what I like and I like what I Know.  Occasionally I like to mix it up, and take a chance on something new or different, you got to keep things spiced up folks.  So when I got I copy of Snake Eyes I thought this was going to be a safe read, I've read Joseph's novels Meat and Garbage Man, and really enjoyed them.  Man was I ever wrong, those of you expecting a nice easy comfortable tale, are in for a hell of surprise.

---

The first tale in this two novella collection will blow your mind. 

 What starts of as a great giant monster tale, soon veers off to become a twisted surreal tale that that makes Terry Gilliam seem tame.  Imagine the twisted child of The Matrix, Videodrome and Brazil.  Yes for a time our hero Robert Johnson works in a tax office.  But our accountant doesn't dream of becoming a lion tamer, he dreams of escape, escape from the, well folks your going to have to find out for yourself.  Lets just say through the course of this story Joseph, takes the reader on a trip that has more wrong turns than an Edinburgh taxi driver on a Saturday night.  This is one of those stories that will have you trying to second guess just what is going on.  Trust me folks, just sit down and read it, you'll never get the ending.  unlike some stories that try too hard to be clever, the pay off from the ending doesn't disappoint.

The second novella, is much more of a traditional horror tale, with a nice subtle line of humour running through it.  The story concerns the events that happen after a "demon" crashes to earth in the sleepy village of Long Lofting.  This tale, while a lot simpler in it's style and format, is still a great read, Is It a dragon, is it a demon or is it something else?  Again I'm going to let you find out for yourselves.  I will say this though you'll have fun reading this story.

Those of you who already fans of Joseph D'Lacey, should pick this up, and those of you who have yet to read him, should also pick this up.

Sometimes when you play it safe, you miss out on all the fun.

File Under Horror Novel Review