Talk us through it
Alex Bishop is drifting through life in Melbourne holding down a series of nowhere jobs and not grabbing the good life we are apparently all entitled to. He runs into old flame Madigan who he hasn't seen in twelve years, since her wealthy family moved to Ireland at the request of Madigan's dying mother. A torrid affair immediately starts which is brought to a sudden halt when Madigan commits suicide. Is Madigan dead however and why do the hangers on that Madigan attracted still hang around Alex's flat? With growing proof that Madigan isn't resting in her grave Alex must unravel the last months of her life to try and find some answers in order to protected those around him from a force that has no scruples. Is Alex strong enough in his own mind to withstand the spiral he is descending into? Ready to trip into Gothic terror?
Review“not in my grave, Lexi. not quite” - Madigan Kirstyn McDermott owes me big time due to her thoroughly engrossing debut novel Madigan Mine, a sort of dysfunctional paranormal love story. I should have been forewarned that the novel would becoming one of those “can't put it down” scenarios based on any number of McDermott's short stories that I've been exposed to. But oh no I just ploughed on in and lost track of time, the paper I was meant to be preparing, and a number of other things I had been meaning to work on. I kept thinking just a couple more pages should get me to a stage where I can slip the bookmark in and put the book aside, but McDermott's seductive prose meant I had to read on, I had to find out what happened next, I had to … okay lets just say Alex wasn't the only one Madigan was talking to here and Kirstyn McDermott is to blame. I'm suggesting right here, right now, that we arrange a picket outside Ms McDermott's house and present our demands stat! Go ahead read the novel and tell me you aren't prepared to make a placard and join me friends and neighbours. But I guess before we take action I should talk about Madigan Mine since that's why you are reading this review in the first place.
If there are two sub-genres in the dark realm that really float my boat then those would be a good old fashion ghost story and a down to the crucifix possession tale. I love me some James Herbert and also read The Exorcist at least once a year. Kirstyn McDermott borrows from both sub-genres heavily, doesn't get bogged down in the tropes of either, and brings something pretty unique to the blend to give the reader an enriching and intoxicating read. The Author matches James Herbert's ability to slide in the chills with no apparent effort, Madigan Mine very much reads as a classic ghost story, loved Alex waking up and finding things had happened and changed around him. But she is superior to William Peter Blatty's somewhat overblown prose and can write a good psychological interlude when required that Blatty would have been proud to have produced. So you are really getting the best of both worlds with McDermott's ability to spin from one idea to the next the icing on the cake, you never quite know what you are going to run across in the next chapter. Hence the must read, can't put it down, seriously demanding book you find yourself devouring in the early hours of the morning when you should be sleeping. Ms McDermott takes some interesting departures from what you might expect from a traditional dark Gothic tale. While there is an almost Hammer style Savant with the answers protagonist Alex Bishop is seeking, that Savant isn't a knight in shining armour in the Van Helsing mould. In McDermott's hands the Savant is a thoroughly reprehensible character who is venal, self serving, and might be the root cause of the current conflict. I had a very much Pontius Pilate washing of hands take on the character, McDermott ticks one of the require boxes for the modern Gothic novel but does so in a unique and interesting fashion. In fact any of the experts appearing in the novel are more apt to be victims themselves or at least be ineffectual in resolving even a modicum of what is going down. McDermott doesn't fall into the trap of repeating the mantra, “when science fails we turn to religion” and we thank Blatty for kicking that idea into play, moreover McDermott points out the rudiments of spiritualism, for want of a better word, aren't doing that well either. Our antagonist here is beyond the reach of both science and religion, Alex is on his own, which is exactly where McDermott has her novel reaching. Kirstyn McDermott's novel is involving and surprising, a different take on the subject matter that forces the reader to take note. The novel is told in the first person narrative form from the viewpoint of Alex with some special guest appearances from Madigan, read the novel to work that one out kids. What's real interesting from a structural point of view is that clearly Kirstyn McDermott is a writer from the female persuasion yet her major character is male. McDermott pulls this particular bunny out of the hat without showing the cards up her sleeve with little to no effort, or mixing of metaphors. One of the criticisms levelled at Stephen King is his general lack of coherent female characters, the reverse is not true in McDermott's case, she writes a plausible male character and strengths her novel through cross gender enrichment. Insert your own quote from that Lou Reed song right here, I've probably managed to offend enough people already. Guess I set out in this paragraph to mention that McDermott's characters are strongly written, down to earth, and believable in a sort inner Melbourne city way. The only thing missing was a grand final, but baby I don't care. Kirstyn McDermott's prose is of the dark brooding kind that doesn't allow for throw away chapters or indeed paragraphs. The mood of the novel is sombre, as befitting the subject matter, without getting all Goth emo and downright depressing. Pacing is superb through out, once again that must read a few more pages issue, with enough time taken out of McDermott's busy plot schedule to add a tad of description here and a dab of psychology there. It's like one of those impressionist paintings, all colours and texture till you pull back and see the big picture, and realise just how well constructed the whole thing is. I finished the book 2am this morning, put it down, and was immediately struck by just how well written Madigan Mine really is. A couple of readers have written in to ask for calls on the sexual and gore content of the various pieces we review. Fair enough, I keep forgetting to include that, so here goes. McDermott isn't sexing things up here, though the religious Right may have a problem with one scene that is actually crucial to the plot. There's no sex for sex's sake going down if that's any help. The red stuff is kept to a minimum, but hey dark genre novel there will be blood. The content of Madigan Mine shouldn't upset too many people overly, well except for the Fundos, so feel safe in delving in. Okay almost done here, you know you can rush out and buy the book without reading the whole review right? - but I did want to mention the excellent cover artwork by Corey Jye with photograph from Getty Images. It's rich, enticing, and sells the novel well in my much maligned opinion. Madigan Mine is available at all good book stores and also online from Pan Macmillians online store right here. No doubt you can probably score the novel from your favourite online haunt as well, check and demand if not in stock. Kirstyn McDermott maintains an Author website/blog over here. Seems a bunch of people are comparing In-Human to a cross between Catcher In The Rye and Buffy. I would suggest those people take their hands off it and leave the comparisons of dark genre material to dark genre reviewers. I can see the appeal of Catcher In The Rye, though I would have gone with Billy Liar (Keith Waterhouse 1959), but the whole Buffy thing is trite and overused to be honest. Sally Hunter is not a hero here to save us all, In-Human isn't plastic American entertainment made to dull the masses. Okay now that we have covered the actual review back to the protest. Since Kirsytn McDermott decided we should put our lives on hold while reading Madigan Mine it's only fair that we start demanding a follow up novel sooner rather than later!
ScaryMinds Rates this read as ... Kirstyn McDermott will slice and dice your expectations with Madigan Mine
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Disclaimer: Please note this review reflects the opinion of the team at ScaryMinds and should in no way be construed as
representing the views of the AHWA Shadows Award Judges. This review is for the edification of ScaryMinds readers and does not constitute a
“literary criticism” or any other criteria the Shadows Judging panel may take this year.