There’s a certain intersectionality in fiction between horrorspecific storytelling and music. From the musicians turned authors, notably Greg Kihn and Douglas Wynne, to authors who simply write about music. It’s often really good, Kihn and Wynne are both excellent. And occasionally less so, like Jeremy Wagner’s cheesy gorefest Armageddon Chord. And of course, sometimes authors will just write great scary stories featuring music without being able to strum a single chord, because, you know, fiction.
I don’t know if Lawson has a musical bone in his body. Joshi, who provided a very favorable foreword, does, specifically choir music, so there’s that, but the thing is no choral music experience is necessary to enjoy this book. The protagonist of it, young Lucien Beaumont, loves it enough for everyone. In fact, it’s his life’s greatest passion. Sadly, Lucien’s life otherwise in pretty much in the dumps. Since the death of his beloved father, whom he had idolized and imitated to the sartorially perfected classical music adoring tee, Lucien’s junkie mother has wasted away the family’s money, so no more mansion, no more private school, etc. Now the two of them are living in a condo in a small town and Lucien has to attend (gasp) public school. The boy still has his suits, but in his new school to no one’s surprise his impeccable personal style is about as appreciated as standoffish attitude and his general mien of exaggerated superiority…not at all. Eventually, beating the odds, he finds some simpatico souls and forms a choir of four with the end goal of eventually being able to perform a mysterious madrigal his father left behind. The madrigal is sinisterly titled, all but destroyed when Lucien finds it and appears to be nightmare inducing, but obsessions being that they are…Lucien can’t seem to stay away from it. No matter what. Not even when it becomes obvious the music might be demon’s work. Not even when it demands sacrifices to reveal itself. Not even when the cost of knowing it might be his very soul. So fun, right? Somewhere there is an intersectionality of Faust and Carrie that spawned this dark ditty. Though make no mistake, this has all the makings of an original. It might have gone the wrong way, especially with all the protagonists being high schoolers, it might have gone (gasp) YA. But rest assured, it’s much too dark and weird for the simplicity of young adult fiction. In fact, it very deliberately adds complexity and vulnerability to the main character, who otherwise might have very easily read as a sort of American Psycho Jr. Lucien is dramatically underparented (specifically unmothered and overfathered), there simply is no one there to guide him in any way or offer support. Plus for all his snobbery, he isn’t always wrong. Sometimes he’s just the kid who says the darndest things, about the decline of social standards, among other things, especially in relation to his new school which does its best to kill any spark of originality in the name of homogenous easily digestible blandness. In all those respects the book works well as a sort of social commentary and this both elevates the overall quality and gives dimensionality to a protagonist who might have otherwise ended up a cliched weirdo. For genre fans, there are plenty of scares. The book announces its deadly ending from the very beginning and makes good on that all the merrily murderous way through. For fans of classical and choral music this will definitely resonate (buh dum dum) on a profoundly dark and disturbing level. Overall a pretty fun quick read. Recommended.
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