Concrete Jungle by Brett McBean; Tasmaniac Publications; 2011; 202 pgs; $14.00 US

What would happen if planet earth decided it had enough?  With humans destroying the planet with pollution, strip mining, the depletion of the Amazon (and lets not forget all those nuclear explosions and tests), what if nature decided it was time to takes its course?  Though it’s never explained to the reader why the events in Concrete Jungle take place, the above scenarios could well be a likely cause.

Imagine if in almost every couple of feet trees were suddenly thrusting up through the ground.  We’re talking massive trees here, propelled with such force that anything in their way would be pushed aside as if they were children’s toys made from lightweight plastic.  Well, Brett McBean has imagined just that in Concrete Jungle.

We first meet Paul, a middle aged man who bears a lot more than the weight of his age on his shoulders as he is returning to his car in an underground parking garage after a late night trip to the local mall.  No sooner than entering the car and starting his trip home the ground starts to shake and then all hell breaks loose in the parking garage.  Giant Mountain Ash trees are breaking through the concrete floor and shooting up right past him and into the upper levels.  Cars are upended and large chunks of concrete fall all around the garage causing incredible amounts of damage.

When the destruction subsides, Paul looks for other survivors and finds an old man, an attractive woman about his age, her daughter, and a disaffected young man who makes the rest of them feel uneasy.  All were in the process of leaving the garage when the event occurred and now they find themselves trapped without an obvious way out.   As days go by it becomes a battle for survival as they scrounge to find food and water.  But there are other, even more grievous problems they have to face.

At unexpected intervals the trees continue to sprout randomly from the ground causing further destruction and there is no place they can go where they are sure to be safe.  Soon, wildlife creeps into the garage eyeing the survivors as a tasty meal.  And then there is the young man who they all had misgivings on, as it turns out they had good reason to be wary of him.

Concrete Jungle is as riveting as dark fiction gets.  The action starts from the first pages and between the physical abuse these characters suffer and their psychological torment the horror seems unrelenting.  And, in addition to providing one hell of an action packed read, McBean has nailed his characters perfectly.

Paul, the lead in the story is an everyman and easily identifiable as someone’s Dad, sibling, or co-worker.  Readers can’t but help bond with the character as he works his way out of one situation after another in a calm and realistic fashion (he’s no super hero) until he pushed to a point when circumstances demand he do more than he thought he was capable of.

On the flip side we have Bruce, a young man who embodies today’s version of a young punk.  He’s lazy, selfish, and mean, smokes cigarettes, and doesn’t hide the fact that he considers women as mere sex objects.  The tension McBean creates between Bruce and the other characters in the story is a major subplot in the novel culminating in brutal violence and one hell of an end scene.

Concrete Jungle is a fast paced, action laden, and terrifying account of a world gone mad that you won’t be able to put down once you start.  And if you’re like me, you will enjoy it so much you will finish it in one sitting.  And it gets even better, because  once you do finish the tale and you find yourself aching for more, Tasmaniac has included two additional stories by Nate Kenyon and Tim Kroenert that are connected to the Concrete Jungle mythos and are very satisfying reads.

Once again Tasmaniac has a hit on their hands; it seems that this small press publisher out of Australia can do no wrong.  Here’s hoping that they make good on their promise that this will eventually be a trilogy, because if the first entry is any indication, this series could easily become a classic.

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Feb 14, 2011

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