After his husband dies, Simeon Link finds himself overcome by grief and seeking comfort in an unusual support group called The Wretches, who offer an addictive and dangerous source of relief. They introduce Simeon to a curious figure known as Porcelain Khaw—a man with the ability to let those who are grieving have one last intimate moment with their beloved…for a price.
Hallucinatory, fiendish, and destructively beautiful, Wretch transports us to a world where not everything is as it seems, and those we love may be the ones who haunt us most.
WRETCH isn’t my first experience with Eric LaRocca’s work, but in some ways, it feels like it. I had previously read his collection THIS SKIN WAS ONCE MINE AND OTHER DISTURBANCES, and it was a bit hit or miss for me. I never ended up reviewing it, so most of it really escapes me at this point. But certainly he’s an author I’ve maintained a lot of curiosity about.
LaRocca has a reputation for writing some pretty extreme stuff, no doubt. WRETCH definitely has its share of upsetting moments, but nothing overly gory or grotesque…so it’s possible that the vibe of this one is different from his other books, I can’t really say.
The story follows Simeon Link, a middle-aged man trying to cope with the somewhat recent death of his husband, Jonathan. Simeon also has an ex-wife (he left her after coming out as gay), a sixteen-year-old son, and a mind-numbing corporate job.
He spends a lot of his workday in the bathroom, either masturbating or passively considering taking his own life. His job performance is suffering & so as soon as we meet Simeon, he’s put on an “extended leave of absence,” which is involuntary and unpaid.
Consumed with grief & self-loathing, Simeon’s life begins to spiral out of control. He spends a lot of time in strange chat rooms having even stranger interactions. And then he joins an unusual group of amateur photographers called the Wretches: people who claim they can see their dead loved ones in photographs. It’s through this group that Simeon hears of Porcelain Khaw, a mysterious figure who claims to be able to reunite people with those that they’ve lost, for one last moment together.
WRETCH poses a really unique question to the reader, something I’m not sure I’ve seen in a horror novel: what if instead of our loved ones haunting us after they’ve died, we end up haunting them while we’re still alive?
This is a book that’s extremely granular in its portrayal of grief and of despair. Simeon’s mind is not a fun place to spend time, and additionally, he’s not a terribly likable character. You want to feel sympathetic towards him in a lot of ways, but he doesn’t make it easy. Simeon takes advantage of his ex-wife at every opportunity, and he’s not very present for his son at all, despite his claims that he wants to be. And yes, Simeon has been dealt an awful, personal loss. But he tends to carry himself as though the world is out to get him, specifically.
WRETCH definitely had me feeling pretty off-kilter for the duration. There’s a slowness to the story, a deliberate sense that we’re building towards something terrible. The pace can feel slightly frustrating at times, but I think the ultimate payoff is worth it. There’s some deeply shocking and upsetting revelations, but you need to be patient to get there.
I found the early going of this book to be pretty funny, in a way. Something about the brief period of time we see of Simeon at his job reminded me very slightly of “Severance” or like a bizzaro world version of “Office Space” or something. Simeon’s almost nihilistic approach to life is obviously rooted in great sadness, but LaRocca definitely finds ways to make things feel slightly funny, in an absurdist way.
This is definitely a bleak book, and one that gets under your skin. I’m glad to have finally read a full length novel by Eric LaRocca, looking forward to exploring more of his work!
Big thanks to Saga Press for sending the ARC my way! WRETCH releases today, March 24th!
Grimdark Dad 