Leech, by Hiron Ennes (Tordotcom)
I should preface my review with the confession that although
I don’t read a lot of horror, this novel captured my imagination and kept me
staying up way too late, turning the pages. It straddles the boundary between
science fiction and horror, with a nod to thriller pacing and suggestions of
fantastical elements. In a far, but not too far, dystopic future, Earth is
barely recognizable. Upheavals have overturned the layers of crust, so that the
surface is all but barren. Humans must mine the caverns for wheatrock
foodstock. Winters are bitterly cold and getting worse. Even so, settlements
persist. One such is an estate ruled by a grossly obese baron who relies on
sophisticated machinery to stay alive. When his doctor dies, he sends to the
elite Interprovincial Medical Institute for a replacement (the narrator). But
this is no simple matter of sending another graduate of the same school. The
nameless narrator shares consciousness, knowledge, and memories with every
other graduate. In fact, they are all human hosts for a single, telepathic parasite.
As if that weren’t bizarre enough, the cause of death of the
former physician turns out to be a second parasite arising deep in the
caverns. It’s not only deadly, it’s incredibly difficult to kill, and it’s
spreading from one host to the next like wildfire.
I loved the medical neepery, the skillful way the author
introduced the characters and plot elements, the rocketship ride of dramatic
tension, and the wildly inventive world-building.
Content warning for violence, gore, mental rape, and a few
other horrors. The book might be too nightmarish for some readers.
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