Synopsis:
Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.
His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.
Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.
Review:
I don’t usually write full blog reviews for trad books, but I had a lot to say about this one. Per usual, I went in blind, which meant discovering the horrid, dark plot of this tale was beautifully haunting. I found the premise to be truly unique, which can be difficult to come by these days.
After a virus, deadly to humans, has deemed all of the animals inedible, the world turns to cannibalism. Eating humans is normalized and organized in the way that we consume pork or beef today. There are processing plants and butcher shops, and “special” meat is something that anyone can buy in the store.
The prose in this book can be pretty simple. Sometimes, it even sounds like a laundry list of instructions. Except it involves the process in which humans are caged, killed, processed, and sold. The macabre nature of the content is enough to keep one mesmerized.
This book is written in third person, with a limited POV of the main character. Something I found interesting is that the main character is never mentioned by name except in dialogue. The author always uses “he” even when there are other males in the scene. Somehow, I was always able to tell when the author was referring to the main character.
Something else I enjoyed was the way the main character describes people’s words. People don’t just say things in a mean way or a beautiful way. The main character not only picks up on the way people say things, but the meanings behind them, and it allows the dialogue to take on a life of its own.
“Cecilia’s words were like a river of lights, an aerial torrent, like fireflies glowing.”
“His sister’s words accumulate, one on top of the other, like folders piled on folders inside folders.”
This pairs with the fact that language has changed now that human consumption has been made legal and normalized. Certain words are deemed inappropriate, such as cannibalism. And you cannot call them humans, but only “heads”. This has served to cause the main character to search deeper into the meanings of people’s words, rather than taking them at face value.
This one left quite a bitter taste, despite the main premise of eating people. The main character seems to be the only one left with compassion for the “heads” and yet the main character isn’t even a good person. Despite his thoughts and feelings toward cannibalism, he partakes in the customs as much as anyone else. Other than the main character, everyone else represented in this story seems to be at least content with the new way of the world. Most are eager to take part in it, and of course, we have our ultimate evil characters who find pleasure in the “head’s” torture and subhuman treatment.
Something that is touched upon throughout the book is whether this deadly virus is even real, or a way for the government to control its people. It is never answered, of course, but it’s enough to get the gears of the mind turning, and add to the horror of just how far the government will go to execute its plans.
To say I highly enjoyed this book would be strange and untrue. However, I rated it four out of five stars. This book is disturbing, graphic, uncomfortable, and unique. It achieved exactly what a horror book is meant to. The plot succeeded in stirring up thoughts in my brain and creating a whole new world of what-ifs and curiosities, and that is something I very much enjoy while reading. If you like your books dark, no characters to root for, and heavy introspection, this one should be on the menu (pun intended, sorry, not sorry.)
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