Fiend

It’s a book about drugs. No it’s a book about zombies. Wrong again, it’s a book about love, hope and the desire we have to be better people. It is all of these and so much more. Peter’s creations of zombies being referred to as Chucks due to the fact that they are always chuckling and giggling brings a nice change to a topic that seems to be getting slightly overdone at the moment. Zombies slightly overtaking the Twilight vampires of yesteryear. What Peter does really well though is his massively real descriptions of the characters and their drug habits. His portrayals make Trainspotting look like a film for kids. It is very harsh, very descriptive and it often made me wonder where and how he got his research for the writing of this book.

His writing is actually very good for a debut novel and you can tell he has been practising his craft the hard way, through magazines etc. This has definitely paid off for him though because although the book feels raw and nowhere near a polished article the like of Mr King what it does show is so much energy and promise that both made the book not want to end and at the same time make you want to read his next offering straight away.

From Chase’s first discovery of a world gone to shit when he pulls back the curtains to see a young girl feeding on a dead dog, through to the rescue of the love of his life and her new boyfriend. The realisation that it is only people who are addicted to meths who haven’t turned leads him to seek out his dealer in the hope that by keeping topped up on drugs will prevent them from turning too. This brings me to probably the best line I have ever read in a book. EVER! So good in fact that it had to go on my Xbox bio. Disaster strikes when Albino the guy who can cook the drugs up gets killed by some wandering junkies and that leads the characters back on the road searching for somewhere safe to stay, somewhere where the drug dealers with their own habits are likely to be holed up. Paranoia sets in, nerves become stretched, the drugs fuelling fantasies and possibilities and the book comes to an end with a sorry sense of hopelessness and despair.

I loved this book and can’t wait for more from Peter.