The Slab by Jeffrey Mariotte; ILT Publishing; 2011; 489KB pgs; $2.99 US

Jeffrey Mariotte’s, The Slab, takes place in southeast California, but before you get to thinking that it’s about those California girls, sunshine and convertibles, you just might want to put down your brightly colored drinks and put your bathing suits back in the closet. Though most of the action in The Slab takes place near California’s largest lake, you’d best not decide to take a swim; you just might be caught dead in it.

That lake, called the Salton Sea, is about as polluted as a landlocked body of water can get. Industrial chemicals, fertilizers, sewage, and a host of other poisons follow the streams and rivers that lead into the lake, and without any egress, all those nasty things have no where to go.  All that garbage just settles there, killing fish, waterfowl, and the occasional human.  But it seems the lake is also home to a different kind of hazard, only this one has nothing to do with man’s errors, misjudgments, and greed.  It was evil, personified as man, and it was captured and buried near this lake maybe thousands of years ago in a community now called The Slab.

The Slab is a modern day commune of sorts, a host to the homeless, free thinking citizens (read: distrust of the government), retiree’s without money, and the occasional criminal element.   And this evil creature that was buried all those years ago seems to be feeding off the poisons in the lake and the subconscious minds of the community. He wants out, and he going to use the denizens of The Slab to see to it.

In, or nearby the community, there are three people who have an immunity to the influence of the evil that’s lurking underground; Ken, the local sheriff, Penny, an anti war activist, and Hal, a man with Alzheimer’s, who before becoming sick, participated in something called The Dove Hunt.

For the most part, a good chunk of the novel is devoted to The Dove Hunt.  The Dove Hunt is an event with a small group of men who kidnap young women, hold them for a day or so and then send them free, then, these men hunt  down the women in the desert.  The women are told that if they make it to freedom, well, more power to them, but if not, they will become the sex slave of the men.  And guess what happens to these “Doves” after the men have had their fill of them.  Let’s just say none of them have ever been seen again

This might seem to be a rather lengthy synopsis of The Slab but it doesn’t even come close to detailing all the subplots and characters that populate this novel.  This novel is so jam packed with action, morality plays, and diversity, that in lesser hands than Mariotte’s it could have easily become confusing.  If you have ever read and enjoyed those epic horror novels from the 70’s and 80’s (think Dan Simmons work) where you were immersed in a sprawling world of rich characterization, smart plotting, and enough sub plotting where the horror was deliberately episodic and horrifying, The Slab will be the perfect read for you.

Mariotte’s prose in The Slab is comforting and familiar; he has a way with words that puts readers deep into the story with little effort.  This is crucial in The Slab as Mariotte has woven the events of 9/11 into the plotting and readers may find themselves either nodding in agreement with some of the revenge sentiments expressed by many of the characters, or outraged by an analysis that occurs deep into the book (i.e., all war is bad, including retaliatory attacks, and one character claims that the terrorists must have had some good in them).

No matter what your personal opinions on the 9/11 attacks and the wars that followed, Mariotte is to be commended for incorporating the discussion into the plot.  So, if you are the type of reader who likes to be engaged with contemporary issues, enjoys multifaceted plotting, and soaks up the type of horror that was prevalent in the 1980’s, I recommend you pick up Jeffrey Mariotte’s, The Slab, you won’t be disappointed.

—
Dec 3, 2011

**Please note. You may not reproduce any reviews in whole or in part without the express permission of Horror World and the respective author. Please contact the webmaster with any requests. Thank you.**