Title: Cannibal Vengeance

Author: Carl John Lee

Release date: December 11, 2021

Ahhh, everyone’s favorite recluse, ole Uncle Carl has returned and this time he’s decided to share a former screenplay of his that involves a subject I really love – the Amazon.

Over the years, I’ve watched a number of ‘lost in the jungle’ movies and read a number of books, and one thing that’ll never change and that’ll always draw me in – the Amazon (and the jungle) are untamable, unhospitable worlds, where if the Indigenous tribes don’t get you, any number of animals will. And if you manage to stay clear of all of that – the lack of most people’s abilities to find water and food will ultimately get you.

The cult classic ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ surely kicked off this fascination – I may be completely wrong, but personally for me, it did – and it is in that vein that Carl John Lee brings us back to 1978.

What I liked: The story starts off focusing on a Christian Missionary group trying to locate the Sharayomo tribe, to bring them bibles and teach them about their faith. Things go sideways immediately and thus leads us into the crux or meat of the story (pun intended).

The story follows Dick and his much younger wife, Mona, who are preparing to spend Christmas with Dick’s grown daughters, Joanna and Emily. Dick has fled to the darkest corners of the Amazon, living in a fortified mansion, as he continues to lead a life off the books. Joanna is joined by her horrible boyfriend, Teddy, while Emily is joined by her husband, Rod.

Carl John Lee has created a really engaging group of characters here and it speaks to his ability and mastery of prose that he can make these people come alive so quickly and efficiently. Case in point – Rod. Here’s his character description loosely – from California, tanned, dark mustache, dark curly hair, muscular, currently a surgeon, but a former porn star, known for his mighty uh… surgical tool. You immediately picture someone in your mind, and for me this guy sounded like the spitting image of Tom Selleck (although I can’t speak on Magnum PI’s surgical tool!).

The action here is fast and furious and Lee does a great job of even adding a few splashes of humor – light and dark. To use Rod as an example again (and how great is that name!), we get to a point where he is trying to swing like a pendulum out of a window to knock loose a beam. While doing this he chuckles, because his porn nickname was ‘The Pendulum’ due to the way a part of his anatomy moved while he walked.

The ending of this is fantastic and speaks to the nature of these stories – where you hope and root for someone to survive, no matter the horror and damage they see and incur. In fact, there’s a line at the end of a chapter, close to the end of the book that says – ‘The last to live.’ Damn, that would’ve made for a fantastic title to this novel.

What I didn’t like: There are trigger warnings a plenty in this one, but the one that I think gets focused on most (I mean other than the horrific gore and violence) is the relationship abuse. This occurs between Teddy and Joanna and while it works well to really build up Joanna’s character arc, it takes some time before things get ‘sorted.’ I personally wished it would’ve happened sooner!

Why you should buy this: Look, I’m going to shoot straight here. I love Carl John Lee’s books and he’s a fantastic writer (and artist – he actually did the cover for my novel Incarnate) but I think he’s criminally overlooked. If this was a release by a bigger, more known name, I suspect this would be a best seller and one we’d see all over Instagram. I wish I had more clout or power to beg people to go buy this, but I’m a realist.

This book has everything fans of dark fiction want – tension, dread, great characters, survive-at-all-costs plot and some of the most brutal decapitations and death’s you’ll ever read.

This was outstanding and I hope one that really does launch Carl John Lee into becoming a ‘must-read’ author by so many more people.

5/5