Synopsis:
A deadly new drug has hit the streets of Scarmouth, one which turns users into bloodthirsty maniacs with superhuman tolerance for pain. Through insidious design a large quantity has fallen into the hands of squatters occupying the derelict Victoria hotel. Rhonda Caine’s desperate search for her estranged sister will lead to this dreadful place. But she won’t be alone. She’s joined by a group of self-serving activists, out to promote a new charity grift off the back of her story.
Rhonda’s not the only one looking for something. Hired muscle, Fred and Pinkie have been tasked to recover that lost drug shipment. These men know what it’s doing to people. What they don’t know is just how many have been affected already, but within the bowels of that derelict hotel breeds a mindless, homicidal legion.
Scarmouth is known as the coastal town they forgot to burn down. It’ll only take a few hot doses to finally set it alight.
Review:
A Hot Dose of Hell yanks you right into the gritty, undesirable streets of Scarmouth as we follow two drug addicts and how they acquire a deadly drug. Wait, don’t all illegal drugs have the capacity to be deadly? Sure, but not like this one.
We also meet Rhonda, sister to one of the drug addicts. She is strong and ambitious, never backing down from doing the right thing or confronting the wrong things. Rhonda sets out to find her sister and bring her out of a life consumed by drugs and degrading decisions.
The problem is Rhonda’s sister has gotten her hands on a drug that completely alters people. If they were cutthroat before, they’ve now lost everything that makes them human. They’ll stop at nothing until they’ve torn a person apart even if it means they lose their life in the process.
My first impression while reading this was a wariness to the heavy accents depicted and some of the terms used. As an American, I feared the language and dialect would take away from the story and my understanding of it. However, quite the opposite happened. I found the dialogue so immersive, easily carrying me from one scene to the next. And though it feels strange for me to say it was natural, because it’s different from what I hear on a day-to-day basis, it was just that. Stark adds in these simple dialogue moments that even just someone saying “thanks” or “sorry” fits so well, creating real-life conversations.
There were certain words I had never heard before, and Stark does not stop this cartwheel into horror to pause and explain but he doesn’t need to. Each term is couched between enough context that I was able to quickly pick up what he was putting down and continue on. “Prozzie” for example was a term I had never heard but when the main characters are slaves to an addiction and willing to do whatever they must to claim their next fix, it’s pretty clear what Stark is referring to.
The descriptions in this dark tale were some of my favorites. You won’t find cliches here. What you will find is something described in a way you’ve never thought of, but once Stark delivers, it makes perfect sense. Sometimes, they sharpen big events such as two people falling down the stairs described as “an arachnid tangle of limbs.” Other times, it’s something as simple as clearing the fog in a bathroom mirror when Stark says she “wiped a porthole in the steam.” And other times it offers a comedic break from the otherwise terrifying story. For example, “more tension than a fat man’s mattress spring.”
Stark does not shy away from offering you a full, vivid picture of the gritty, alternative lifestyles of the drug-addicted main characters. He paints a dreary picture of their detestable living situations, the exact steps they take to fix up their next dose, and the decisions they make to feed their cravings.
Stark creates many moments of tension and had me racing through certain chapters to find out what happens next. There are brutal kills, delightful gore, and some just plain gross (in the best way) situations. Though, I guess Slate doesn’t need to worry about getting that leg checked out now.
A Hot Dose of Hell is horror done right, intelligently placing information in the right places to use later, slow build-ups of hair-raising creepiness, just to punch you in the gut at the end. I highly recommend it to any readers of horror because this book checks all the boxes.
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