Red Queen (2009)

Author H. M. Brown
Publisher Penguin Group (Australia)
Length 261 pages
Genre Survivor
Blurb Daring, stylish and sexy, Red Queen is a psychological thriller that will leave you breathless.
Country

Talk us through it

Shannon and Rohan Scott have headed bush to escape a world collapsing under a new plague. Their parents, now deceased, had created a survivalist's paradise which the older Rohan is governing with an iron fist in order to ensure their supplies and few luxuries last till order is re-established. The plan is to wait the plague out with no contact with the outside world.

After several months of isolation Shannon believes he knows everything there is to know about his brother and life has settled into a pattern. Unfortunately the idyllic is torn asunder when a young women sneaks in under their late-night vigil and loaded guns. The brothers allow Denny into their lives, but does she have a plan of her own?

Relationships will be stretched to the breaking point as a new dynamic establishes it's self, survival just got a whole lot tougher.

Review

"Stop being paranoid, and don't look at me like that." - Denny

H. M. Brown is hitting out with her debut novel in Red Queen and the Writer has already been noticed by the powers that be. The novel has been short listed for the Aurealis awards in the best novel category, quite the achievement straight off the bat for a new Novelist. Let's get trucking and see if we can't breakdown a post apocalyptic novel that is anything but in the final wash up.

Brown has written a densely packed novel that really doesn't have much going down in it but that packs a wallop when it comes to the psychological mojo. What we basically have are three people in a cabin circling each other and coming to terms with their newly formed group dynamic. Brown dispenses with descriptions about what is happening in the outside world, we learn the situation almost as hearsay from various characters, and keeps her attention rigidly focused on her cabin in the bush. There's no escaping the almost claustrophobic nature of Red Queen, the Author isn't for a second going to introduce other surviving groups as a sort of relief from the rising tensions our group of three are experiencing. There's almost a New Zealand writing style going on in the novel with Brown heavily reminding me of John Mulgan's seminal Kiwi novel Man Alone. Actually both novels heavily feature people fleeing to the bush, but for entirely different reasons. So what you get with Red Queen is what could be called a deep read, there's no jumping paragraphs and racing through to the action bits, you have to tread lightly as here be tigers for the skim reader. After reading a whole bunch of pulp fiction and comics I was ready to tackle deeper waters and Ms Brown certainly supplied those.

Before anyone gets over heated and decides that Red Queen sounds slightly too formidable for them I should point out that Brown's writing style is easy to read and the pages simple flow as things march slowly toward a major twist that I didn't see coming. The Writer manages to shroud her resolution yet make it seem so obvious at the same time that you are left wondering how she pulled things off exactly. Post resolution things do end up slightly twee and Brady bunch for mine, but hey the post apocalyptic novel doesn't necessarily have to end up with survivors besieged in farm houses with no hope on the horizon. Brown is holding out a candle at the end of the tunnel here, and I guess for some readers that is going to come as a relief after what the Writer has presented us with in the final block of the novel.

Brown forces a slow reading pace, there's a lot going on in her debut novel in terms of the group dynamic evolving

Through the course of the novel Ms Brown presents us with one of the fundamental dilemmas humanity faces; we may think we know about everything there is to know about those close to us but there's always something that is going to throw a spanner into the works. Maybe that's a theme or something, but as I keep saying ScaryMinds is a review site hence we don't bother with the heavy duty critical analysis. Rohan thinks he has Shannon and Denny sussed out, both of them will surprise him by novel's end. Shannon thinks he knows about everything Rohan can aspire to, and is very much mistaken in that belief. And of course Denny is too caught up in her own machinations to bother getting into the psychological deep waters, she's swimming in the manipulative shallow end. Brown doesn't brow beat us with lengthy metaphysical paragraphs belabouring this by the way, you pick up on it via character thoughts and reading between the lines. Quite the achievement, as stated Red Queen is densely packed, you have to take a slow approach to reading this one.

It's not all deep thought and introspection at the Red Queen salon folks, when the action heats up the Novelist doesn't hold back on splashing the claret around as violence goes down. It must be said however that the book's lesser moments are in the action scenes, Brown seems far more confident with the psychological aspects of the book. I didn't pick up on any quickening of pace during the action scenes which lessened their impact and essentially kept me at arm's length from the story. Maybe it could be down to the first person narrative style forcing the pace, though when things hit the fan you would think our focal character would be riding the whirlwind rather than describing it's build up.

As stated Brown pulls off quite the effective approach to her novel, with Red Queen not needing to journey into the post apocalyptic mayhem to keep things moving. Surprisingly none of the characters suggest pulling that odd black and white TV into the lounge room to see what's happening, or even trying to tune in to see if anyone is still broadcasting over the radio waves. For the brothers grim it's all a matter of waiting things out till some undetermined time in the future when some unknown agency is going to pull things together and make it all right. Brown focuses heavily on the inward view point of the Brothers, notably via Rohan's heavy handed leadership. They are there for the duration, have each other for company, and are well stocked to survive whatever rigours come their way. Brown doesn't venture into the realms of cabin fever or broach the subject about what might happen if society doesn't actually pick itself up and dust itself off. Whether or not that might warrant a sequel is up to the Author but I was surprised we didn't at least venture down the path.

Denny for her part, besides having a secret agenda, is a survivor with perhaps a better grasp of the realities of the situation than even Rohan. At no stage does Denny give any indication she's in it for the long haul, or for however long it takes the Authorities to get the house back in order.

It's this clash of viewpoints that provides the main interest in the novel. Shannon almost exists as an innocent bystander as Rohan's beliefs clash with those of Denny. Shannon is the innocent, ill equip to cope with the current situation, who by the manipulations of both Rohan and Denny will take extreme action when it's called for but who is then unable to comprehend his own actions. When Shannon finally confronts Rohan and points out that Rohan pushed him we have a glimmer of Shannon confronting his own demons and perhaps vanquishing them. A long day's journey into night, though Brown does hold up the candle of decency in the final chapter.

If you are after a novel that speaks of the human condition and isn't afraid to wade into the deep waters of psychology then Red Queen should be on your reading list. I had a hell of time with it, lived through the events with the characters, and came out feeling like I had read something very substantial. It's one of those books destined to be discussed in dark genre book circles and to gain a cult following in years to come.

Red Queen has been released as a mass market paperback so your local book store should have copies in stock. I scored my one from Dymocks on George St down in Sydney and it didn't take a lot of browsing book shelves to get my paws on it.

ScaryMinds Rates this read as ...

Excellent debut novel that promises a major new talent.