Review: Dew Breaker

First, my biggest disappointment with the book: it could have started better.
Much, much better. Apart from that, the book is very well written, even bordering on downright outstanding.

When I read the description on the back, that The Dew Breaker is a man who is repenting his sins of past, and with some background on Haiti's history with dictatorship and atrocities, I pretty much had an idea of what I was buying into.

And I was correct, no great surprises there. However, I cannot say that I knew it all along. The book made sure that I did not suspect a thing till it actually happened.

Bible Camp Bloodbath: A Book by Joey Comeau

Did you like Saw?
If you say yes, then stop reading this review, read the real thing.

If you said no, then imagine reading it in a book. Sounds more docile? Easier than seeing someone sawing their femur? Think again.

The book begins in the same surreal world which anyone who has appreciated A Softer World is familiar with. Unconventional to say the least, but still befitting what is to follow later. The writing eerily reminds one of Lullaby time Palahniuk. The pace of the story is also the same: The novel is short (only 13 chapters) but this increases the started-running-and-ran-into-a-brick-wall feel.

I am being honest here when I say that I am not a fan of gore, but the story managed to have enough, just enough, grip to keep me engaged with my teeth on the ends and eyes refusing to blink.  And it was not the same instinct which makes one turn one's head to see a mutilated body at a car-wreck. It was the artful story. Joey mixes a cliqued idea with something so bizarre that while reading one only has a faint deja-vu, but remains too engaged in reading to figure out what is happening.

Finally, the last chapter provides a perfect finish to the fast paced tale.

If not anything else, then it will be a memorable read which will stay with (I resist the temptation to write haunt) you for a long time.

The book can be read online, can be purchased for Kindle, or as a hardcopy.