G. C. McKay

I received a free copy of this e-book in exchange for a review. I went to the author's LibraryThing page in order to examine their library shelves as I like to see what they read for inspiration and referencing (make of my shelves what you will). G.C. McKay has only one book listed and it is his other published work. So lots of messages there.

The book is narrated by Eric, a twenty-something with 3 women with whom he has had strong relationships and are still moving in and out of his life. The book is written in three acts, the characters are all either previous or current members of an acting school. Those who have achieved semi regular or regular work are regarded jealously by those who have not. The book is rich with descriptions of surroundings, as if Eric is setting scenes for the reader/viewer to understand. In fact there is a small film shot at one stage one that could easily be one of the porn movies Eric tries to enjoy watching - he admits he is becoming jaded.

In the beginning act there is a lot of sex, all from Eric's point of view, he likes to think that his partner is enjoying the sex too, but he reveals a lot of his enjoyment comes from his knowledge of how each of the 3 women have had traumatic upbringings related to sex. Eric never tells what his traumatic upbringing was, but it has to have been there. The most obvious identifier - apart from how he treats women - although he tries never to hit them, is that he calls parents "breeders".

This is a difficult book to make one's way through. As Eric spirals even further into self-destruction, his aside comments and rants to the "observer" that is the reader become more revealing. Because the cast of the book is small, "coincidences" happen on a regular basis, some amusing, some traumatic.
Keep reading through to the end, as Act Three provides a satisfying resolution. I will pick this up again in a year's time and see how I feel about it then.

To the author, you use words very well, there is some very atmospheric descriptions, and the editing is excellent. However you mix up the use of "allude" when you mean "elude" (from Google: Allude means to reference something indirectly. ... Elude, which shares the same origin as allude, means "to evade" or "to escape perception or understanding." To remember, keep in mind that elude starts with E, just like escape and evade)… (mais)

This novel fits squarely into the genre of transgressive fiction in the sense that the plotline centers on the breaking of taboos and societal norms. It's somewhat reminiscent of some of the sexually and psychologically twisted short stories written by Stephen King.

Heather, the novel, is the story of Michael, a thirty-five-year-old bookstore café barista who was unfairly branded as a pedophile at the age of 18. It’s a label that he was not able to shake and eventually became a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, the hunter soon becomes the hunted and Michael finds himself caught up in a vortex of real-life pedophilia, polyamory, nymphomania, rape, suicide, cannibalism, and necrophilia wherein he is equally perpetrator and victim.

This novel definitely has the same sort of ick factor found in Alfred Hitchcock movies such as The Birds and Psycho. That being said, the story is exponentially ickier than both of these films put together. Had I not been asked to review the book, I likely would have put it down once I could see that the characters were treading deeply into the taboo-breaking territory.

At times the book reads almost as if it is highbrow literature but then dives deeply down to the depths of curse words and other crude language. The author seems to have created a few new terms that are used to express the protagonist's essentially anti-feminist and nihilistic world-view. Accepting that it is transgressive fiction and it is expected that the sensibilities of the reader will be offended by the story, the book is quite well-written. However, the predatory, hyper-sexualization of a 14-year-old girl is just too much. It is not realistic that an inexperienced teenager could so suddenly become so sexually deviant that she makes the sex in Shades of Grey look like a tickle-fight. Portraying young women in this way is not acceptable. It is because of the warped portrayal of the character of Heather that I feel that I can't give it more than a three-star rating.

This book will definitely appeal to a niche market. I’m not sure that anyone would actually enjoy it but many, if they are not totally turned off, will find it intriguing.… (mais)

This story is the story of Michael Harlow. He is a barista in a café inside a bookstore, and a rumor is going around saying that he is a pedophile. He then meets Heather Loralie. He describes her as the perfect girl for him. Just one problem, Heather is 14 years old.

Heather is the first book I read by this author, and I have to say that I enjoyed the writing style. I enjoyed my time reading Heather. It was a short book that I couldn't put down.

I feel like Michael's character was really layered and developed even though we don't know anything about his back story. The author writes to make you feel sympathy for Michael, and it works, at first. But, as the story progresses, Micheal's thoughts and behavior were getting darker and darker to the point where it was hard to read. Micheal thinks he is the victim and blames everyone but himself.

My problem with the book was Heather. She was described as a sweet young girl, but we never really see that aspect of her. We never get to know her when she's supposed to be innocent. So, we cannot see the full development of her character. When we actually get to know her, she came off as mature and not innocent at all. We also never got to know her as a person, but I feel like that is actually the whole point of her character. He is attracted to the idea of her, what she represents more than anything.… (mais)

I have to say, I wasn't sure what to expect with this collection but this one still surprised me. This collection is definitely not for the faint of heart nor the timid and must be read with an open mind, otherwise you definitely will not finish this. Not that the stories are overly grotesque but there are situations in which a closed mind or overly conservative viewpoint would quickly turn one away. There was only one story which I struggled to get through but only because I didn't appreciate the story itself, not that I was turned off by it. It just failed to interest me but aside from that one, this was quite a good collection. I was provided a copy of this in exchange for a review and I'm thoroughly glad I read this one. I will definitely be on the lookout for more by Mr. McKay.… (mais)