“The Boyfriend” succeeds by transcending extreme horror
The Boyfriend doesn't fit neatly into any particular genre. That's a plus for me. I appreciate an author who’s willing to let the story take him along for the ride rather than trying to shoehorn it into a specific formula.
Some may read DE McCluskey's book for the extreme element of the story. Others may avoid it for the same reason. I don't fall into either category. I'm neither easily impressed nor offended by such scenes. What matters to me is whether they’re written merely for their own sake or in the service of the story. If the former, I won’t bother. “Splatter” or gross-out horror holds zero appeal for me. It often seems to be a case of authors engaging in a “can you top this?” contest over who can be the most disgusting. Plot and character development can suffer as a result.
Not here. In The Boyfriend, the torture scenes are integral to the plot. The two main ones were overly long for my taste, but I understand why. This is a tale about revenge (no spoiler here: the author states as much in his blurb). McCluskey juxtaposes the scenes to provide extreme motivation for an extreme response. It makes the characters more relatable (or hateable, as the case may be) and draws the reader in.
Apart from these scenes, the novel moves briskly after providing a strong setup. The first part almost reads like a YA novel, while the latter part reads more like a spy thriller, which I enjoyed.
The setting is interesting in that it’s never explicitly stated. The first part of the book almost seems like it’s set in the 1950s, with teens hanging out at a “milk bar” (malt shop) and using old-fashioned slang. But the presence of cellphones and other tech suggests a modern setting. I’m not sure whether the author did this deliberately to create a contrast between innocence and the forcible taking of it. I’d like to think he did, though, because it’s an effective strategy. The torture and sexual brutality depicted here are graphic and detailed, definitely not for the faint of heart.
The Boyfriend isn’t perfect. The twist is a good one, but I had it figured out early on. Still, it’s hard to hit the sweet spot between predictability and non sequitur, and the author deserves credit for including a solid twist in the tale.
The characters seem somewhat too resilient (healing more quickly than I would have expected) and, in one case, defiant than seemed likely given the amount of torture they endured. And one of them in particular seemed almost impossibly gullible at times, but I have learned not to underestimate the human capacity for gullibility. But these are minor quibbles. Good storytelling covers a multitude of sins, and the sins here are few and minor, while the storytelling is first-rate.
McCluskey is an indie author who helps disprove the false notion that one has to be traditionally published to write a strong, engaging story. If you have the stomach for extreme and graphic torture scenes, The Boyfriend is worth a read.
Note: McCluskey deserves props for showing the versatility to write more than one kind of book. He also puts out children’s stories as Dave McCluskey, using a slightly different name to avoid having kids stumble upon his more graphic works. You can find his books on Amazon or on his website, Dammaged Productions.
Review by Stephen H. Provost, co-author of the Nightmare’s Eve series of horror short stories and publisher of Dragon Crown Books.
