You are invited to look after the Kendall Reviews Cemetary, and to choose eight books, preferably horror/dark genre, to take with you to cover your shift; here you can discuss why you chose the books.
As well as the books, wardens are allowed one song/album to listen to. Again, an explanation for this choice is required.
You must also discuss one luxury item you can bring, which must be inanimate and not allow communication.
If you’d like to take part in The Graveyard Shift then please submit an application to gavin@kendallreviews.com
A new shift is about to begin. The warden for the week’s #GraveyardShift is…
Adam Simcox
DYING IS HELL . . . SOLVING YOUR OWN MURDER IS PURGATORY
When Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus storms a Lincolnshire farmhouse, he expects to bring down a notorious drug gang; instead, he discovers his own dead body and a spirit guide called Daisy-May.
She’s there to enlist him to the Dying Squad, a spectral police force made up of the recently deceased. Joe soon realises there are fates far worse than death. To escape being stuck in purgatory, he must solve his own murder. A task made all the more impossible when his memories start to fade.
Reluctantly partnering with Daisy-May, Joe faces dangers from both the living and the dead in the quest to find his killer – before they kill again.
Books
Kill Your Friends by John Niven
Without question, the book that made me want to write. A deliciously depraved deconstruction of the 90’s music industry seen through the murderous eyes of Steven Stelfox, the novel uses coal-black humour, is frequently outrageous, and it’s almost impossible to believe that it’d be published today. Look past the shock and awe bad taste and you’ll see Kill Your Friends is a masterclass in structure and plotting, as are all John Niven’s books; he’s been a big influence on my own writing in that sense. He’s also brilliant at writing anti-heroes (even Stelfox kind of has you rooting for him) and it’s the only book I re-read each year. I’m always careful who I recommend it to, though…
Revival by Stephen King
I could have filled this list with Stephen King books. He’s one of those authors whose novels I always buy the first day they’re out. This isn’t one of his better-known tales, but it’s absolutely one of my favourites. A fallen priest that experiments with electricity and a heroin-using musician are thrown together by fate in one of his most compelling adventures. The quality I always love about King’s work is the arm-around-the-shoulder feel to it, the knowledge that you’re in good hands, and that you’re going to be told a great story. He writes about music so well; his passion for being in a band comes across brilliantly when telling Jamie’s story. The end is deliciously dark, too.
Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley
I’ve loved all three of Andrew Michael Hurley’s books. He’s an absolute master at creating a sense of place, tone and atmosphere. He reminds me of the British filmmaker Ben Wheatley in that sense; he taps into a well of uniquely British folk horror. I could have picked any three of his novels, but Starve Acre was one that really clung to me afterwards. It crafts such a brilliant sense of slow-burn doom; you’re never quite sure where the story’s going, but you know it’s going to be nowhere good. It’s a brilliant deconstruction of grief, too.
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
One thing true of all the books on this list is the strength of voice; like a great band, you recognise within a few seconds of hearing them on the radio, within a paragraph, you recognise a great author. Stuart Turton is absolutely on that list, and The Devil and the Dark Water absolutely demolishes difficult second book syndrome. Gripping, dark, twisty and totally delivering on the premise, the novel keeps you guessing until the end and gives you characters that are as compelling as they are multi-layered. Clever without making you feel stupid, creepily intelligent, and with one of the best endings I can remember, there are few better books to get lost in.
Slough House by Mick Herron
I can’t write a list of favourite books without putting Mick Herron on it. His Slough House series is one of my all-time favourites and another massive influence on my own writing. He’s a ninja with dialogue, isn’t afraid to kill his darlings, and gives lessons in pace and structure. He’s created another brilliant anti-hero with Jackson Lamb too. In my fever dreams, Lamb and Steven Stelfox live together forever in a depraved, bad taste sitcom. Make it happen, Netflix.
The Outsider by Stephen King
Another one of King’s later novels. I maintain the first 150 pages are among the best he’s ever written. It’s compulsive, tricksy and skin crawling. As it develops, you’re never quite sure where it’s going (always an immediate three stars from me, right off the bat) with twists that always feel well earned and the return of one of King’s best characters. It was a book I couldn’t read quickly enough; I was almost annoyed at my eyes and brain not being able to take the words in quicker. To be producing your best work forty-odd years into your career is genuinely inspirational.
The Collector by John Fowles
The only novel I can actually remember enjoying at school, The Collector has always stayed with me. The use of language always blows me away; Frederick’s clumsy, semi-illiterate dialogue contrasts brilliantly with Miranda’s more educated tongue. I was fascinated at how many set-in-stone rules it broke when I read it as a kid, and the ending still punches me in the gut. A brilliant treatise on the mundanity of evil told in a very British way.
The Dark Knight Returns – Frank Miller
One of those lightning bolt moments when you pick up a book — or in this case, a graphic novel — and you know it’s going to be something that stays with you forever. I’d grown up reading comics, but this was so much more. Brutal, uncompromising, gritty, original; I’d never read anything quite like it before. My fifteen-year-old self didn’t even really know whether he liked it or not, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Everything I know about dialogue, I’ve learnt from comic books and graphic novels: the rhythm, the pacing, the rat-a-tat back and forth. The Dark Knight Returns casts a big shadow over the second and third Dying Squad books, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Album
War on Drugs – Live Drugs
Live Drugs is an album I’ve absolutely murdered, play wise, over the last six months. I’ve been a fan of the band for a while, and this album consists of selected performances from their world tour, taken over several years. It’s what music (art in general, I guess) should be: transportive and transcendental. The release of the album came right at the start of the second winter lockdown, and for the 80 minutes I played it when I wasn’t homeschooling or endlessly traipsing around cold, muddy parks, I was back in Central Park in 2018, watching the band live. The album headed off many a meltdown and I’ll always love it for that. The songs on it aren’t half bad, either.
Luxury Item
An old school iPad, filled to the brim with 20,000 songs. That should get me through the graveyard shift…
The Dying Squad
DYING IS HELL . . . SOLVING YOUR OWN MURDER IS PURGATORY
When Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus storms a Lincolnshire farmhouse, he expects to bring down a notorious drug gang; instead, he discovers his own dead body and a spirit guide called Daisy-May.
She’s there to enlist him to the Dying Squad, a spectral police force made up of the recently deceased. Joe soon realises there are fates far worse than death. To escape being stuck in purgatory, he must solve his own murder. A task made all the more impossible when his memories start to fade.
Reluctantly partnering with Daisy-May, Joe faces dangers from both the living and the dead in the quest to find his killer – before they kill again.
You can buy The Dying Squad from Amazon UK & Amazon US
Adam Simcox
Adam is a London-based filmmaker who’s shot commercials for brands such as McLaren, Primark and Vice, and music videos for Britpop veterans as well as fresh on the scene alt-country stars. He began his film career by writing and directing three features: the first sold to Netflix; the second and third won awards and critical acclaim at festivals worldwide. A graduate of the Curtis Brown Creative novel-writing course, The Dying Squad is Adam’s debut novel.
You can follow Adam on Twitter @adamsimcox
Leave a Reply