"Technically, I suppose I'm a serial killer. It's a term that's found some popularity today, and by definition, I'm one of the worst ever." - Narrator

Western Australia's last Executioner gathers his throughts in order to describe his life, job, and the strange happenings he noted while hanging forty-three men and one woman. From his first occupation as a fifteen year old apprentice rope maker in 1889, through his life as a pseudo "sin eater", to his final acceptance of his role in the colonial city of Perth we are introduced to the quiet supernatural underpinnings of one of the stranger occupation in the colonies of Australia.

The question becomes if at the end of it in 1984 our Narrator will take the plunge and hang one final person, himself, in a quiet seldom visited cemetery. It's a Monday and traditional dictates that executions occur on that day.

It's been a while since I tackled a Martin Livings novel, well okay this is a novella but it doesn't pay to be too pedantic in the dark genre review game, so I was more than happy to dive into the pages of Rope and see how the Author had developed his skills. Regular readers will maybe remember our review of Carnies way back in 2009, in fact it was only the second book review to be published on this site. Got to say it was like sitting down to a beer on a hot day with a friend you haven't seen in a while, Livings has lost none of his narrative style since Carnies and if anything has worked hard at shaving off the rough edges of his naturalistic style of storytelling. I ripped through Rope like I had somewhere to be, and was slightly bummed I finished the book so quickly. Naturally this meant I re-read it, but that's just between you and me.

So Rope is written in first person narrative, the central character tells the story, which in itself presents problems when a novel delves into the dark genre. If the character telling the story is central to the plot then the reader is less inclined to be concerned about their welfare as they must survive to tell the story. Martin sidesteps this issue neatly in an example of how not to write yourself into a corner, Rope opens with the narrator visiting a Perth cemetery, we later learn he has brought the rope he made for executing prisoners, and more importantly he selects just the right tree to use the rope one final time. In a single plot development the tension is back on the table, is the narrator, having completed his tale, going to hang himself? You will need to read the book to find out for yourself as spoilers isn't something we condone here at ScaryMinds, our job isn't to read the book for you and provide Cliff notes.

While Livings doesn't give us each hanging the narrator as executioner conducts we do get a sort of greatest hits as the book progresses and learn about the changing values of society along the way. Rope is broken into chapters denoted by years that are important to the narrator as his career progresses and the rope he created for the prison Governor comes to have more than passing importance in his life. Considering the book covers the period of colonial rule through two world wars and the engagement in Vietnam before touching bases with 1984, we're talking a fairly lengthy time frame for the narrative.

As the narrator begins his career as a cocky teenager we learn the courts of WA are more than happy to send foreigners to the noose, but are less likely to enforce the same punishment on Australians. So we get a group of four Chinese hung and an Afghan as an added bonus, but naturally the locals are also well represented as the wild wild West turns out its own brand of outlaw. Attention is also given to the only woman the narrator hangs, for the crime of murdering her step children which is considered heinous enough at the time to warrant the ultimate punishment. Martin rolls through the descriptions and the impact each hanging has on his viewpoint character.

Of course as the decades roll on the occurrence of capital punishment becomes less and less as society's view of crime and punishment evolves till eventually the punishment is legislated out of existence. The narrator's vieww also changes but this has more to do with a discovery he makes about himself and the rope that is his tool of trade and probably less to do with the morality behind society sanctioned murder. By the way I'm not even going to get into that debate, you probably have your own views and I have mine.

So far so good you might be saying, but what the heck has this got to do with the dark genre or the price of hockey masks in Tasmania. Ever read or seen an adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Grey? We are sort of in the same territory except there's no artwork involved beyond the skill the narrator had at fifteen when he created the rope. Somehow his occupation is keeping him young, as if he is some sort of vampire feeding off the deaths of the condemned. The narrator postulates that the rope is imprisoning the souls of those who fall victim to it and hence there is one more job for him to do late in life before he can move on.

Martin Livings delivers in Rope another example of the easily accessible writing style he has developed over the years. The prose is naturalistic, flows without any speed humps, and at no stage was I taken out of the narrative. There are some surprises in store but the main element to this novel is the story itself, the examination of capital punishment and the effect this may have on the one person who very often is overlooked in this sort of fiction, the executioner. Martin Livings has delivered another excellent yarn that I have no issue in recommending.

Rope is available from the good folk at Dark Print Press in most electronic formats.