Kind Nepenthe
Matthew V. Brockmeyer
Black Rose Writing
August 1st, 2017
Reviewed by Stuart Conover
Synopsis:
Rebecca thought she’d find a hippie paradise when she moved to the desolate back hills of Humboldt County. A place to commune with nature and teach her five-year-old daughter how to live off the land. Instead she discovered a nightmare.
Coyote is a washed-up pot grower. Strung out on pills and dealing with dropping prices and looming legalization, he wonders if it’s even worth it anymore.
Diesel Dan abandoned his son for a life of methamphetamine and prison. Now he wants to make amends. He’s going to be a grandfather. But his son is on the same dark road of drugs and violence that once consumed him.
These characters will come together in an explosive ending that will leave you stunned and breathless. But more than just a gripping horror novel, Kind Nepenthe is a deep examination into the nature of love and greed, lost ideals, and the essence of evil in one of the last frontiers of the American West.
Review:
In Kind Nepenthe, Matthew V. Brockmeyer has not only given us a fully fleshed-out world, but brought together a group of people that you can quickly see how they’re all connected even though you might not expect some of them to be. The story follows two families, a world of drugs, and an interesting take on horror. The first is Rebecca and her young daughter Megan while the second is Diesel Dan and his estranged son DJ. Finally, we also have Coyote who is a pot grower who is falling behind how the industry is being run.
When it comes to Rebecca we find a bit of a hippie who took her daughter to a commune to live off the land, but what she finds isn’t at all what she is looking for. When it comes to Dan we see that he is an ex-addict who wants to reconnect with his son so he can meet his grandchild. Only his son wants nothing to do with him and has already started down the same dark path he has. Finally, Coyote is a pot grower who outsources all of his labor but the way he runs his business isn’t working that well these days.
What sounds like it could be a look into the world of the US drug trade quickly ends up leaning towards the supernatural. The young Megan starts communicating with the spirit of a drowned boy and Coyote comes across Spider, who is a dealer that is also deceased.
How does it all tie together? Giving that away would spoil far too much of the book, but let’s just say that Brockmeyer knows how to not just weave a solid set of stories but tie everything together by the book’s end. Solid character development and pacing will have you flipping pages to see what comes next and the author delivers plenty of suspense in the buildup. A few of the areas in this buildup almost feel off at the time but by time we start getting closure it all ends up having made sense.
A fantastically well-constructed story that will satisfy fans that mix those who are down on their luck with horror.
