Title: Corrosion
Author: Jon Bassof
Genre: Dark Fiction, Horror
Age Group: Adult (18+)
Rating: 5stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
A mysterious Iraq war veteran with a horribly scarred face…A disturbed young man in a strange mountain town…A masked preacher with a terrible secret… Amidst a firestorm of violence, betrayal and horror, their three worlds will eventually collide in an old mining shack buried deep in the mountains. CORROSION, the shattering debut novel by Jon Bassoff, is equal parts Jim Thompson, Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner, and an unforgettable journey into the underbelly of crime and passion. Drawn from the darkest corners of the human experience, it is sure to haunt readers for years to come.
What impressed me the most about Corrosion is the bleak, lifeless world author Jon Bassoff creates in his novel. The world is made of small, run-down, damaged towns filled with the most despicable of characters: the low-lifes, people without goals or imagination, the ones destroyed by society. In a few descriptive sentences, Mr. Bassoff makes this world come to life, giving his book a very depressing setting, and positioning an even more depressing characters in the middle of it.
The first part focuses on a mysterious Iraq war veteran, Joseph Downs. His face is horribly scared, and he falls head over heels for a girl who saved from her abusive husband in a local pub. They begin an affair, and the veteran falls for her. But the girl may be more than she seems like, and betrayal lurks around every corner…
The second part talks about a young boy, who’s father has travelled deep down the alley of mental illness. His mother has become ill, and her father hides her for the outside world, and for the boy as well, until they make a horrific discovery. The young boy, Benton, slowsly descends into madness, like his father before him, and falls for an older woman who wants nothing to do with him.
I figured out what was going on about halfway through, but nevertheless, it was an amazing experience to see how it all played out. In some ways, this book is a masterpiece. It’s well-crafted, has an amazing plot, and offers a bleak yet fascinating world.
The writing is relentless, fast-paced, and simply beautiful. There’s horror behind the horror, like a silent spectator behind the events, and who will only reveal the real, full story in bits and pieces, torturing the reader a little along the way.
A most impressive novel. I can’t wait to read more from this author.
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