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The Mall by SL Grey (Louis Greenberg & Sarah Lotz)

01 Jun 2011
in Members Titles
The Mall

Dan works at a bookstore in a deadly dull shopping mall where nothing ever happens. He’s an angsty emo-kid who sells mid-list books to mid-list people for the minimum wage. He hates his job. Rhoda has dragged her babysitting charge to the mall so she can meet her dealer and score some coke. Now the kid’s run off, and she has two hours to find him. She hates her life. Rhoda bullies Dan into helping her search, but as they explore the neon-lit corridors behind the mall, disturbing text messages lure them into the bowels of the building, where old mannequins are stored in grave-like piles and raw sewage drips off the ceiling. The only escape is down, and before long Dan and Rhoda are trapped in a service lift listening to head-splitting musak. Worst of all, the lift’s not stopping at the bottom floor. Plummeting into the earth, Dan and Rhoda enter a sinister underworld that mirrors their worst fears. Forced to complete a series of twisted tasks to find their way out, they finally emerge into the brightly lit food court, sick with relief at the banal sight of people shopping and eating. But something feels different. Why are the shoppers all pumped full of silicone? Why are the shop assistants chained to their counters? And why is a cafe called McColon’s selling lumps of bleeding meat? Just when they think they’ve made it back to the mall, they realise their nightmare has only just begun…

Date of Publication: 1 June 2011
ISBN: 978-0857890429
Website: slgrey.bookslive.co.za
Publisher: Corvus
Reviews:

  • August 2011 – “The Mall is brilliant … [it] transcends being an ordinary dystopian tale: it isn’t about the horror of the setting, it is about its temptation” – Pornokitsch
  • July 2011 – “as stunning and original on the inside as it is on the out” – Darren J. Guest, Dark Central Station
  • July 2011 – “a fast-paced read, claustrophobic, disturbing and satirical” – Cat Hellisen, Inarticulations
  • July 2011 – “marks an impressive step forward for South African genre fiction” – The Word Fiend
  • July 2011 – “a gruesome kind of fun to read … sticks in the brain” – Tori Truslow, Strange Horizons
  • June 2011 – “Then you realise that the twisted mirror on real life was nothing more than plain glass all along. That’s the beauty of this work.” – Sally Fink, PopMatters
  • June 2011 – “I was told that this book was brilliant and I wasn’t disappointed.” – Bookbanter
  • June 2011 – “The Mall is the best horror novel I’ve read in 2011. Thanks to pitch-perfect pacing, The Mall is a lunatic thrill ride.” – Niall Alexander, The Speculative Scotsman
  • June 2011 – “Books as good as The Mall don’t come along very often. … one of the most inventive and refreshing novels of recent years.” – Oracle Book Blog
  • June 2011 – “It’s an intelligent use of horror, lingering in the mind long after its short, sharp shocks have worn off.” – Eddie Robson, SFX
  • May 2011 – “In a word, The Mall is totallyfuckingawesome.” – Joe Vaz, Something Wicked
  • May 2011 – “Tense and unnerving reading that any horror fan will get a lot out of.” – Graeme Flory, Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review
  • May 2011 – “An awesome horror novel. It’s genuinely creepy at times and utterly horrific” – Lauren Smith, Violin in a Void
  • May 2011 – “Absolutely awesome – an original and genuinely scary horror thrill “ – The Tainted Archive
  • May 2011 – “One of the cleverest, creepiest and most memorable horror novels for ages … a masterful debut.” – David Barnett, The Independent (UK)
  • April 2011 – “This is a clever look at the modern obsession with consumerism, advertising, body image … Chilling, spooky and original.” – Bitesize Books
  • April 2011 – “I can see this book becoming a cult classic” – Geek Syndicate
  • March 2011 – “A fast paced novel full of unexpected twists and turns.” – Michelle Herbert, FantasyBookReview.co.uk
  • March 2011 – “A fast-paced, compelling … roller coaster ride into your worst nightmare” – Janet van Eeden, Litnet inter-review
  • February 2011 – “An incredible horror novel and definitely the start of something awesome in the publishing world” – Dave-Brendon de Burgh, DaveBrendon’s Fantasy & SciFi Weblog
  • February 2011 – “As excellent a piece of world-building as I have encountered in my reading life-time” – Mack Lundy, Africa Screams
  • February 2011 – “You have to read this book [but not] before bedtime” – Syllable in the City

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