The Thrillville Pulp Fiction Collection Volume One by Will ViharoMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
There are two novels here, or one novel and one novella, and they're both trips.
"A Mermaid Drowns in the Midnight Lounge" starts off embracing genre, giving off a "been there/done that" vibe that works because it has a good hipster feel. Then, like it's removing the top of your skull, it switches to an entirely different perspective, troubling the ground of the story by telling a story about the author writing it. That process works because Viharo has a solid sense of humor and a good feel for what's necessary to shock (and keep drawing in) his readers.
Just about the time I settled into the assumption that I'd figured out the back-and-forth of the two perspectives, Viharo introduced yet a third strand, a third story weaving in and out of the others. The effect, all in all, is like watching a skilled three-card monte player -- no matter how closely you to try to follow the cards, you never know where it's all going to wind up.
"Freaks that Carry Your Luggage Up to the Room" is a kind of twisted "Grand Hotel," a bizarre story without a central protagonist. It moves from shock to shock, leaving a lot of laughs along the way and ultimately unsettling not just the genre in which it starts but also the whole experience of being a reader.
Very cool stuff and worth checking out.
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