Depth Charge - Tyler Jones
DEPTH CHARGE
TYLER JONES
***
Art world darling Julian Le Sang paints with passion, with abandon, and with his own blood. Inside these blood paintings, Julian sees more than art... he sees the future.
"Propulsive and mesmerizingly original... This one is going to be felt far and wide." —K.C. Jones, author of White Line Fever
From Tyler Jones, author of Burn the Plans (one of Esquire's Best Horror Books of 2022), Heavy Oceans, and Midas, comes a new novel in which the future is written in blood.
In fifth grade, Julian is bullied and alienated until Marcy befriends him and learns the strange boy's dark secret: he sees visions of death in his own blood. Visions that turn out to be eerily accurate.
When Julian becomes a famous artist, he inadvertently pulls Marcy and her son into a world of secret government programs, murder, blood soaked canvas, and a terrifying version of the future that's barreling toward them with all the force of a nuclear weapon. A complex and deeply emotionally supernatural thriller about fate and how every choice shapes what will become our world.
MY REVIEW
***
It’s spooky season on Kindig Blog and the story of a painter who sees the future in his blood seemed like the perfect autumn read!
Julian sees death when he paints with his blood – victims with no context are revealed and his predictions come true in up to 3 months. But when he sees someone that he knows in his latest painting, it will change the world as he knows it forever.
Depth Charge is a story of three parts, and each part felt like very different books in their own right. I don’t want to give too many spoilers, so I’ll be somewhat vague, but Part 1 introduces Julian and his talent, through stories and flashbacks from his friend Marcy. This sits beside the present-day narrative, which is building up to one of his public gallery openings. This part really hooked and drew me in as I learnt more about his skill and a lot of the depictions of blood are visceral and gory.
The second part is then about loss and grief, with a road trip centred around a character only having less than 3 months to live. This was the part I felt less engaged with – it’s triggering and raw and it felt pretty jarring to the supernatural elements whilst also being a bit repetitive in places.
The end part of this story then centres back on the supernatural elements, introducing a facility and a bigger plot arc. Lots of new characters are introduced along with a lot of different powers and interpersonal relationships. However, there is no satisfying conclusion to this part - the ending just fizzles out to nothing. I would have preferred less of part two, if it had freed up space for an actual ending.
I would also argue against the labelling of this book as in the ‘horror’ genre. Although in the first part there are some gory descriptions of blood, it isn’t a horror book. It’s sad and moving in places, there’s elements of paranormal and the supernatural, but I don’t think it ever really strays into horror territory.
Overall, Depth Charge felt like three very different stories, (none of which were horror), with no real satisfying payoff. Thank you to NetGalley and Shortwave Publishing for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
LINKS TO BUY
Comments