Synopsis:
On a sunny morning in June, Margaret Carpenter wakes up to find a new iPhone on her doorstep. She switches it on to find a text from her best friend, Charity Atwater. The problem is, Charity’s been missing for over a month. Most people in town—even the police—think she’s dead.
Margaret and Charity have been lifelong friends. They share everything, know the most intimate details about one another…except for the destructive secret hidden from them both. A secret that will trigger a chain of events ending in tragedy, bloodshed, and death. And now Charity wants Margaret to know her story—the real story. In a narrative that takes place over one feverish day, Margaret follows a series of increasingly disquieting breadcrumbs as she forges deeper into the mystery of her best friend—a person she never truly knew at all…
Review:
In October 2022, I made my humble debut on bookstagram. My inaugural post was a very short and objectively poor review of Nick Cutter’s “The Troop,” a book which rekindled my love of horror. Now here I am, 100 or so instagram posts later, coming at you with a far longer, and subjectively adequate ARC review of Cutter’s latest nightmare-inducer “The Queen.” This is kind of a full circle moment for me, and whilst my gratitude to publishers is always sincere, when I say thank you Gallery Books for the ARC… I mean it, it comes out October 29th 2024.
Nick Cutter, the Hyde to Craig Davidson’s Jekyll, has struck yet again with another icky, itchy and insect-swathed odyssey that pulls you in and spits you back out with a thoroughly churned stomach, and hurt feelings. We have the utter displeasure of following multi-billionaire, tech-wizard and certified arse Rudyard Crate, and his sadistic brainchild “Project Athena.” Fuelled by an admittedly devastating childhood trauma, Crate seeks to do something completely unprecedented, that no respectable person has ever attempted before… perhaps for good reason. We also follow Margaret, a teenage girl broken by the inexplicable disappearance of her best friend Charity. Her life, which has already been flip-turned upside-down, becomes even more complicated when she begins receiving text messages from a phone that appears upon her doorstep, messages that could only have been sent by her missing friend. These messages lure her and her “friend,” (wink wink) Harry down a bizarre rabbit hole- where they are subjected to everything from monsters in the wardrobe to a particularly vicious food-fight.
When I began reading Cutter’s “Little Heaven,” last April, I had to admit I was a little stunned (although certainly not deterred) by the prose, having only read the far more straightforward “The Troop,” at that stage. This is much the same. Cutter’s writing is incredibly intricate, and I think amongst the most poetic and beautiful in contemporary horror. I enjoyed savouring the prose, and took my time appreciating the nuances within it, but I should make it clear to readers that whilst “The Queen” boasts a rather intriguing plot, it’s not a page-turner in a traditional sense. It’s a book that demands your patience, and a willingness to think about what you’re actually reading- not something you could fly through in a sitting or two.
There is one thing it does have in common with “The Troop,” however. Even two years on, two scenes replay on an endless loop in my mind. The “turtle” scene devastated me, and made me feel rather queasy. Almost immediately after, he hits us with the “Swiss army knife,” chapter. I’ve never been one for spoilers, so if you know… you know. If you don’t, consider carefully whether you want to find out. Well, in “The Queen,” Cutter takes the same approach with making readers feel as nauseous as possible- this time, with ants. I have never been scared of bed bugs… until now, so thanks Nick. Cutter is perhaps the best example of Cronenbergian horror around. I’ve read my fair share of extreme horror and splatterpunk, and not Matthew Stokoe’s “Cows,” nor Duncan Ralston’s “Woom,” elicited such reactions from me as first, “The Troop,” did, and over the past few days “The Queen,” has. This man knows how to really get under your skin, and his visceral passages of utter depravity transcend pen and ink, his words wrapping around your mind and squeezing until you can’t withstand anymore.
Here, themes of coming of age and friendship are prevalent, but trauma, and how it can often manifest in horrific ways when left unaddressed, is central. Rudyard Crate’s childhood is an unmitigated disaster, marked by a narrow escape from one of the most terrifying and excruciating deaths imaginable, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of how individuals cope with trauma. Throughout history there have been countless brave survivors of countless tragedies, who have taken their harrowing experiences and transformed them into something positive and hopeful. Here however, Cutter reminds us that there’s a broad spectrum, and that it can often be dark. Some, like Crate, are consumed by anger and fear, metamorphosing into something monstrous. “Project Athena,” is a twisted endeavour born from unresolved trauma, which Rudyard channels into a killer obsession with control and power, bringing this theme into sharp focus.
Much like in Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” it seems Cutter is ultimately warning against the danger of “playing God.” Both stories warn that pushing scientific boundaries, without both proper precautions and ethical considerations is… a bad idea, so, if you were thinking about creating your very own insectoid- please be careful when doing so.
Even as I type this conclusion, I find myself marvelling at Cutter’s ability to blend the profound with the putrid; the perverted with the poetic. This is a story that will not only get under your skin, but it will stay there, festering. Whilst, of course, I’m looking forward to subjecting myself to the next Nick Cutter release, I encourage Davidson to write something less devastating in the meantime.
very nice post