The Litter
Kevin R. Doyle
Night to Dawn Magazine & Books
February 2015
Reviewed by Jess Landry
Karen Bannister is coming off a really bad year. Estranged from her father and her fiancé dead, she finds solace in her work with the city’s indigent, destitute, and lost. Then something, something savage and brutal appears, and begins preying on those she works to save. Now, from the depths of her own personal tragedy, Karen has to find the strength to lift herself up and, with the help of an unexpected ally, fight back against the darkness that threatens to overwhelm those too weak to save themselves.
Author Kevin R. Doyle weaves quite the tale in which someone – or something – is murdering people in an area known as the Zone, where forgotten residents live and those looking to remain anonymous for a night or two flee. As the dead bodies pile up (often mangled and unidentifiable), readers are introduced to Karen, a worker at a local shelter, who’s on a personal quest to find a young boy named Ricky in the darkest parts of the Zone.
Going into The Litter prior to reading the synopsis, the novel does take some time to establish Karen as the main protagonist. As the story progresses though, readers are treated to more about Karen and her life previous to the recent string of murders (as an example: her significant other was killed in the line of duty, and she harbours some animosity towards her father, the Chief of Detectives). The divide between her and her father adds a rich dimension to the character, and the realness of her situation makes Karen a strong choice to lead the story. It’s easy to see from the first few pages that Doyle knows his characters inside and out.
As Karen’s journey takes her deeper into an unknown world and the plot steadily moves forward, readers can trust that the path to The Litter’s ending is full of twists and turns that will leave you voraciously flipping through the pages.
