Essel Pratt continues to dominate Project 26 with the next two books up for review featuring the letters X and L.
Xperimental Genocide is a shocking, provocative and possibly even, some might say, controversial tale of a clinical psychologist who takes a job at an old mansion investigating the curious case of a young girl who refuses to speak.
The psychologist is given a script that he is made to read out loud to her to gauge her reactions and try and provoke her into getting angry and breaking her silence, but the further he progresses, the more he begins to suspect there is something deeper and darker going on...
This was a good read that had me hooked to the end wanting to know the secrets behind what exactly was going on.
The subject matter may be a little sensitive to some, especially during these times of enforced political correctness when there are certain subjects people would prefer you didn't talk about, but I enjoyed this and thought it a brilliant short, sharp, shocking read.
Pratt's second offering is a case file from the files of his fictional detective, Detective Mansfield.
What starts off with a shocking blast of extreme, dark, erotic horror soon settles down into a mysterious tale with Lovecraftian overtones that nonetheless, still remains not for the faint hearted.
I had read part of this book before as a shot story, so went in to this knowing a little what to expect, but the opening is quite graphic with heavy sexual overtones so if that's not your thing - avoid!
I didn't enjoy this as much as Xperimental Genocide, but it's still a cracking story and a great introduction to what promises to be one of Pratt's most recognised characters in the future.
The difference between these two books, and his previous book - Backwoods Bonfire - go to show just how multi-faceted a writer Essel Pratt is, and it is interesting to see how he can write in different styles and yet still somehow maintain the same distinctive writing voice.
As usual, both books are available on Amazon now....
