Welcome back to Dark Reads, today I have a review of Gone To See The River Man by Kristopher Triana.
This is a splatterpunk book and has disturbing subject matters and gore. Check your triggers if you need to!
This is by far my favourite read of the year so far, absolutely a 5 star read for me. I have so much to say but I will try to not go on for too long haha!
The story follows Lori, she is an almost 40 year old woman who is living a lonely life and has become obsessed with Notorious serial killer Edmund Cox. She and Edmond have been in contact via writing letters and prison visits.
On one visit Edmund asks Lori to do something for him. He wants her to find his remote cabin along the river in his home town, collect something and take it to ‘The Riverman’. Because she is totally besotted by Edmond and has fantasies of writing a book about him she accepts instantly.
Lori is also the full time carer for her sister Abbey. Abbey has additional needs following a childhood accident. As she is unable to leave Abbie Lori has no choice but to take her on this journey with her, all be it resentfully.
As the story unfolds we get the impression that the Riverman is a supernatural being rather than a person and it gives a real feeling of dread for what they are going to find when they get there. But the real monsters in this story are the people. The more we learn about the characters backstories the more disturbing and depraved it becomes.
The story is told via present time and backstory chapters that works perfectly. Triana drip feeds the horrifying truth bit by bit and I had an increasing feeling of dread throughout that something really bad was going to happen yet I wasn’t quite sure what.
Although this is a Splatterpunk book and there is some very gory, violent scenes, the most disturbing parts in this book are the psychological aspects.
For me this book drove real emotion, I felt sad, angry, disgusted and they were all palpable emotions which is only testament to how brilliantly this book is written
Triana is clearly a fan of the Delta Blues as am I, this really comes across on the page. I love the nods to the genre, I really liked the musical aspects to this story and even the writing was lyrical. It captured the bleak essence of the blues.
This one comes highly recommended from me!
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