Review
“I’d seen plenty of people fucked up by faeries before, mauled by werewolves or raped by unicorns or eaten by one of those swarms of pixies that strip flesh from a living human like a pack of piranha.” - Aster Miriam Aster is a former Detective and until recently an employee and lover of the Faery Queen. Since the paths to the land of the fey have been closed and Aster has been resurrected one too many times she's gone into retirement. A former client, Safia Mulani, has received information about her sister who was kidnapped some years previously, with Aster being unable to bring the case to a satisfactory conclusion. Safia wants Aster to continue with her investigation and hopefully to rescue her sister from the Fey who took her. Aster doesn't think it all adds up but is unprepared for the intricate plotting going on behind the scenes or the ulterior motive an old foe has. Can Aster find Safia's sister, and more importantly can both women survive the attentions of some particularly blood thirsty creatures out of faery tales? Let's get our Hans Christian Andersen on. Peter M. Ball delivers a novella that isn't recommended for light reading in the nursery, unless you are looking after a particularly unliked relative's precocious brat. While differing novels have painted the Fey in a bad light, yes there are evil elves abroad in literature, Ball goes out of his way to present the darker side of the faery folk. Rather than having a slight bent towards mischief, Ball's fey are more likely to rip your arm out of the socket and come back for more, sort of like a great white circling a seal colony. So if after something to supplement those Narnia books that are all the fad, till people actually read them and discover the writing is pretty old fashion, then my suggestion would be Bleed isn't that book. If, however, you are after a gripping yarn that drips some blood then dive on it, the water is mighty fine, just be careful of the noahs. Bleed seems to be a loose sequel to Peter M. Ball's previous book Horn, that somehow involved demented blood thirsty unicorns or something (sorry haven't read it, the book is on my list, shut up already). While clearly if you have read Horn then you are ahead of the game, it's not a requirement. It did take me a bit to sort out some of the characters, bloody shape shifters, and to get the background story happening, but once my read was on I was bounding along following Ball's narrative without an issue. Quite possibly if you haven't dialled in yet then get your hands on both books and knock yourself out. Okay so Bleed is told from the first person perspective of Miriam Aster, a hard nosed and cynical dyke who doesn't believe in taking a backward step in pursuit of her aims. Aster is one of the great characters of modern Australian dark fiction and put's Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer out to pasture when it comes to hard boiled. Please note I'm not implying that Bleed is in anyway a noir work, actually it's stepping through a number of genres, and if I had to make a call then I guess I would call it a Private Eye wrapped up in Gothic trappings outing. You have to read the book to get where I'm going with this, Peter M. Ball has a style and narrative all of his own. Bleed rocks along at a fair pace, Ball doesn't allow the narrative to lag at any stage, and you will be dragged into the shenanigans unfolding. There's a mystery to be solved, plenty of plot twists, and the sort of conclusion that no doubt bodes well for another book in the series. Be careful here Ball's series is habit forming and I'm already looking at getting my grubby mits on Horn sooner rather than later. And let's keep our minds out of the gutter here okay! So I had a good time between the covers of Bleed, got my read on, and have yet further books needed in the review pile. Fully recommended novel, though I would read the earlier book first and then read this one. There's enough of a mystery for crime fans to get excited by, and the dark trimmings ensure horror aficionados are going to be all over this one. Peter M. Ball has delivered up a fairy tale just how we like it, raw and dripping with blood. Peter M. Ball has a web presence right over here, and he loves a good rant so that makes it a top read. Hey not enough anger at the world in my opinion, it's getting drowned out by Foxtel, Reality TV, and bogan cricket. Moving along, if after a copy of Bleed then you can do worse than hitting Twelfth Planet's official site. You might have to dig around a bit as am not seeing a store link for the book. Keep checking back however it will happen.
ScaryMinds Rates this read as ... Peter M. Ball delivers up a fairy tale that will have you wanting more.
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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.