Senses Working Overtime

An American banker is kidnapped on the streets of Antwerp. Held in a sealed-off apartment he is, at first, reasonably well treated with requests for books and other items granted with little delay.

But then things start to turn nasty. His captors commence their plan - to remove his senses one by one. And the whole thing is being filmed and broadcast across the internet with viewers paying to vote for whether to end his torment, or to prolong it.

Which may sound like the plot to a dodgy horror movie, the sort that has about seven sequels, and in lesser hands it may well have read like this. But Stona Fitch is not trying just to shock you for the sake of it, his remarkable novel will really make you think, force you to consider your own position and beliefs. But it will also fuck with your head. Just a bit.

As each atrocity is committed you find out a little bit more about the kidnapped banker and, as you do, you find that he isn't perhaps quite as innocent as all that. Not deserving of his fate exactly, but the defined edges of right and wrong become blurred.

It takes a highly skilled writer to be able to create scenes of gut-wrenching torture (I did feel physically sick at one point, when Touch was being dealt with by the kidnappers) and somehow not make them feel gratuitous. They are there for a reason and work completely with the story. The tension borders on the unbearable as you discover which sense is next, as is the feeling of resignation when it happens.

Senseless is a short novel which most people will polish off in just a few sittings. You won't be able to forget it though. Ever.

Senseless by Stona Fitch is published by Two Ravens Press and is out now. There is also a movie adaptation that I am going to try to check out. Trailer below. In German for some reason, don't think it is a German movie, was filmed in Scotland as far as I can tell.

Comments

[Nik Perring]

Bloody hell, that sounds terrifying. Not one for the beach, then.

[Maria]

I agree. Awful. Let me know when it comes out for Sony or Kindle. I'll let my horror group know. I don't read horror; don't ask me why I'm in a horror group. They coerced me into it. I would never read this book, but it sounds like it would be right up their dark, dangerous alley!

Ish.

[Jason]

Torture porn shite.

[Scott Pack]

Have you read it Jason? I am guessing not judging by your comment as I think the book is nothing like the toture porn stuff that has been popular in the cinemas of late.