Synopsis
What do you see…?
When the mutilated body of a young woman is discovered in the desert on the outskirts of Los Angeles, the detective assigned to the case can’t deny the similarities between this murder and one that occurred a year prior. Media outlets are quick to surmise this is the work of a budding serial killer, but Detective Bill Renney is struggling with an altogether different a secret that keeps him tethered to the husband of the first victim.
What do you hear…?
Maureen Park, newly engaged to Hollywood producer Greg Dawson, finds her engagement party crashed by the arrival of Landon, Greg’s son. A darkly unsettling young man, Landon invades Maureen’s new existence, and the longer he stays, the more convinced she becomes that he may have something to do with the recent murder in the high desert.
What do you feel…?
Toby Kampen, the self-proclaimed Human Fly, begins an obsession over a woman who is unlike anyone he has ever met. A woman with rattlesnake teeth and a penchant for biting. A woman who has trapped him in her spell. A woman who may or may not be completely human.
In Ronald Malfi’s brand-new thriller, these three storylines converge to create a tapestry of deceit, distrust, and unapologetic horror. A brand-new novel of dark suspense set in the City of Angels, as only “horror’s Faulkner” can tell it.
Review
A huge thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for the eARC!
Truly the master of horror noir, Ronald Malfi’s Senseless is another stellar contribution to the world of horror, specifically the subgenre of crime horror. Perhaps his most deranged venture yet, Senseless focuses on three separate individuals, seemingly unconnected and operating in various social spheres of Los Angeles. One woman’s mutilated corpse found in the remote deserts of California changes all of that with Malfi’s prose slowly unraveling the twisting, winding knots of confusion. The result is catastrophic, a conclusion that is impossible to predict and loaded with dark malevolence regarding the human condition. Impossible to put down, Senseless undoubtedly revels in the darkest corners of deviant human behavior, reading as some of the best horror crime fiction imaginable.
Malfi’s elevated sense of an unrelenting, haunting atmosphere takes what is a normal thriller into something else entirely. This novel starts the same as any crime thriller with a hard-boiled, emotionally-damaged detective, Bill Renney, walking up to a crime scene to examine a harrowing scene. A woman has been killed but most startling of all is the absence of her eyes, her nose, her ears, and her tongue. While this is obviously startling in and of itself, this scene means something else entirely to Renney who thinks of a familiar scene from a year before. Rumors of a serial killer begin to run amok, but there is something much more to all of this, an added layer of unease that Malfi institutes with ease.
Cut to our other perspectives, the fiancé of a Hollywood producer and a man who believes he is a “human fly.” It may sound absurd or insane that any connection would exist between these three individuals, yet through remarkable storytelling and unique characterization, this is a reality that is made possible resulting in unfathomable outcomes. Each of these characters is haunted by something, a malignant presence breathing over their shoulders that influences their life’s course through violent means. The direction in which Malfi steers this ship is truly unpredictable as we are held captive, along for the insane ride.
Bleak, unflinching, and wicked, Senseless by Ronald Malfi is a novel made of grit, built upon human thoughts and actions best left in the dark. The ramifications of these wretched actions say more about the human condition and the things we cannot leave behind, the things that linger longingly, hauntingly. This is a story that leaves little room for humanity, solidifying Malfi as one of the best writers of dark fiction of our time.
Senseless by Ronald Malfi releases on April 15th from Titan Books!
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