An Army of Skin - Morgan K Tanner

This is the story of a young man who, in a plot of revenge, decides to frame his late mother's doctor for murder. For some reason he skins the corpses in a gruesome, bizarre form of art after reading about it in a mysterious textbook. The flayed skins come to life, and start to carry out his murders for him - and things quickly start to unravel.

So the backbone of this story is Trevor, like all good serial killers, was very close to his mother. Unfortunately for Trevor, she recently died of a brain tumour. She consulted the family doctor - Dr Mellick, who thought it was just migraines and told her to take some paracetamol and get lots of rest. In Trevor's eyes, Dr Mellick is responsible for his mothers death, and he plans to take his revenge. Trevor starts killing prostitutes in an effort to frame the Doctor, and skins the corpses after reading about it in a strange textbook. Just like anyone would. The skins come to life and help carry out the killings, the doctor disappears, and Trevor's activities lead him down a very dark and mysterious path, and his grip on reality becomes weaker and weaker.

This story is absolutely crazy. Easily one of the most original plots I'v read for the last few years, Morgan has come up with something that (to my knowledge) is completely original, yet has that classic feel to it. This book is super reminiscent of those old low budget horror movies - think Evil Dead or the Troma films - it's all gore and over-the-top violence with a wacky plot, that makes it so much fun. I spent my teenage years watching those films, so this book was almost like a trip down memory lane.I felt like I was 15 again, watching scary movies. I loved every minute of it, and recommend it to any gore-hounds or horror fans. It's not hugely terrifying though it is scary at some points, but it is crazy good fun.

Trevor is a great main character too. he explains his logic and his motivations, and I'm sure to him everything makes great sense, and it's all completely logical, but to the reader it seems a bit fuzzy round the edges. His grip on reality gets weaker and weaker, and the reader follows him on his downward spiral, getting lost in his hallucinations and black outs. It leads to a disorientating narrative, and it creates a dizzying atmosphere. I also grew to actually care for Trevor - he's clearly a mixed up guy - and the weird psychopath that infuriated me at the start of the book slowly revealed himself to be a troubled kid who is in desperate, desperate need of help.

This is a great little book, easily read in one sitting, that I would really recommend if you want a quick little story full of the macabre and dark humour. If you enjoy this sort of thing, you can't go wrong with this one.