Synopsis:
Thrift fashionista Dez Lane doesn’t want to date Patrick Ruskin; she just wants to meet his mother, the editor-in-chief of Nouveau magazine. When he invites her to his family’s big Easter reunion at their ancestral home, she’s certain she can put up with his arrogance and fend off his advances long enough to ask Marie Caulfield-Ruskin for an internship someone with her pedigree could never nab through the regular submission route.
When they arrive at the enormous island mansion, Dez is floored—she’s never witnessed how the 1% lives before in all their ridiculous, unnecessary luxury. But once all the family members are on the island and the ferry has departed, things take a dark turn. For decades, the Ruskins have made their servants sign contracts that are basically indentured servitude, and with nothing to lose, the servants have decided their only route to freedom is to get rid of the Ruskins for good…
Review:
If you’re craving a slice of horror that combines the opulence and splendour of the runway, with the blood-splattered satisfaction of a revenge story, then “Guillotine,” is the nasty little novella for you. In this furious dissection of the super-rich, blood flows as freely as champagne, and you can’t help but grin as the elite are served their just desserts . Don’t be fooled by the pretty cover, like the guillotine itself, Dawson’s latest is swift, sharp and comes down hard, with a satisfying thud. Hitting shelves on September 10th, “Guillotine,” is a front-row seat to the most dramatic, grotesque, and strangely cathartic falls from grace you’ll ever witness. This is haute horror- serving carnage in couture.
We follow Dez Lane, a fashion student with a big dream and a blank résume. With the industry demanding ten years of experience before you can even get your foot in the door, those dreams seem distant—until she starts dating Patrick Ruskin. He’s arrogant, entitled, and undeniably just a bit of a knob… but since his mother is the editor of the Nouveau magazine and a fashion titan, Patrick Ruskin may just be Dez’s golden ticket to the fashion halls of fame. When her opportunity to meet her idol, on the Ruskin’s private island nontheless, crops up, she’s more than happy to play nice with her unbearable boyfriend, but something about the island is indisputably… off. The airtight NDA, the lavish family dinners, eaten in silence, the unsettlingly obedient staff (clad head to toe in pink) ready to serve. There’s more to this island than meets the eye, and Dez is about to discover that the cost of success may be more than she bargained for.
Amongst a series of stylish and macabre kills, “Guillotine,” is a novel about the glaring disparity between those who serve and those who are served. Often, extreme wealth knows no bounds (aside from basic human decency), their extravagant lifestyles often drip with absurd excesses, and this networth is hoarded with a colossal sense of entitlement. The “eat the rich horror,” bill, hits the nail on the head. Ultimately, it seems Dawson is demonstrating that you can have too much. It’s as clear as a glass of Dom Perignon that while you can amass all the wealth in the world, a trust fund offers little protection against a well-aimed blade.
The prose itself is clean and quick. This novella could easily be fluffed out into a full length novel, but Dawson simply gets on with it. Simultaneously satirical and seething, “Guillotine,” is a straight-forward, slaughter-filled scream, and that’s just the way it should be.
Dawson’s character work is special. Dez, driven by ambition, refuses to sacrifice her dream, despite the obstacle of class. She knows what she has, and whilst she’s grateful to her mother for the upbringing she had, that doesn’t stop her from wanting more. Conversely, The Ruskins want for nothing, and seem to forget their plush, privilege-soaked island lifestyle is made possible only by their servants. Despite that, the way in which they treat one another, the staff, and new-comer Dez is callous and often abusive. Luckily, they are not so much out of touch as they are out of time. These characters reek of entitlement, and behave so spectacularly awfully, that when karma comes knocking, it’s hard to stifle a giggle.
A blood soaked romp, in which the untouchably wealthy trip over their own designer shoes, “Guillotine,” is a novel that cuts clean and deep, leaving no loose threads. It goes to show that whilst money talks, revenge has the last word.
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