Kitty Horror

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Disgraced doctor, Walter Freeman, thinks he has perfected the Transorbital Lobotomy, a simple procedure he feels will cure a vast majority of his patients at the psychiatric hospital he has worked at for over thirty years. The other doctors do not agree and he is dismissed but decides to 'liberate' one of his successes, Edgar, a murderer who is now as meek as a kitten thanks to the procedure.

Walter decides to take his 'success' on the road and they tour town after town speaking of the positives of the procedure and how people can be saved.They come to Burnwood and there meet a variety of troubled and manipulative characters. Durango and his preacher father and Scent, the young prostitute who is desperate to get her hands on money hidden by her mother. Their stories converge into a violent finale where Walter is shown the real cost of his procedure.

The author has again brought together an amazing array of characters for his novel, Walter with his almost blind faith in the power of his procedure. This is mirrored in the story arc of Durango and his father, his father convinced that Durango is the messiash and can perform miracles and raise the dead. Scent's character was complex with the initial set up of her being a sweet girl who is hooking because she has no other options. She is soon revealed as someone violent, calculating and manipulative but her love for Durango seems pure and she is convinced this is what's needed to change her life, along with her mother's money of course.

The novel is set in the 50's and scratches the underbelly of america, showing the violence and poverty that confront people on a daily basis. It's fascinating and disturbing in equal measures but well worth the read.

Recommended.