Title: Black Mouth

Author: Ronald Malfi

Release date: July 19, 2022

First – huge thanks to Netgalley, Titan Books and Ronald for approving me for a digital ARC of this one!

I’m admittingly late to the Malfi game. I discovered his work through his novella ‘Mr. Cables,’ (which if you’ve not read you need to immediately) and then last years phenomenal ‘Come With Me,’ (which if you’ve not read you need to immediately). I’m stick shaking my head in disbelief that ‘Come With Me’ was nominated for a Stoker  – and yes this is coming from the guy whose book was on the prelim ballot. I don’t understand the how’s or the why’s but I was in utter shock when my novel was there and his wasn’t.

Malfi is a sublime writer. People often talk about how Stephen King has a writing voice that immediately transports you into their writing, but I’ve found my favorite author (cough… cough… Andrew Pyper) and Malfi have two of the strongest writing voices out there. You instantly leap into their worlds and with Malfi, those are often times worlds you’ll wish you didn’t inhabit.

What I liked: The story follows a group of three friends and an older brother, who have an experience together in the area referred to as Black Mouth. Years later, they are beckoned back to their hometown and they’re forced to confront what happened, all those years ago.

Yes, this is an idea as old as time in dark fiction. Yes, other authors have done it and yes, King has a massive tome out there that has something like this, but the reality is, this is ALWAYS a plot that will survive and ALWAYS a plot that is engaging and has so, so, so much potential. And Malfi grabs that potential and runs with it.

The main character here, Jamie Warren, SUCKS. He’s a guy you’ll dislike and each reader will have to determine if they will root for him or not. BUT. It’s a key aspect to the story and Malfi handles him with nerves of steel. Jamie is a coward, an alcoholic and a selfish jerk. When his mother dies and he returns (after a phone call about his brother, who has significant cognitive issues), Malfi begins the wheel of Jamie attempting to flee. Of him not wanting to confront the horrors of life (whether real or supernatural) and, as so often is true, is only able to continue on with the help of his friends.

This is a key narrative throughout and I think the strongest aspect of the book. There’s a few moments in here that will punch you so hard in the gut.

What I did enjoy was how a moment we are led to believe will be the “climax” of the story occurs further in than expected, which elevated what happens after even more. It was as though we got an extended epilogue. I often wish books would tell us more about what happens after the big events and was really happy to discover that Malfi did just that here, making sure we get to see how the characters cope and live once the ‘big event’ has happened.

What I didn’t like: There’s a few bits that I wasn’t overly fond of. An incident with a dog seemed completely unnecessary. Yes, it was there in place to show derangement and how repulsive a specific character was, but I could think of other ways to handle that. And I wasn’t completely sold on the ‘over there’ vs ‘over here’ revelation near the ending. I’ll leave it at that to keep it as close to spoiler free as possible.

Why you should buy this: I preordered this as soon as it was announced, knowing how amazing Malfi is. We’re also in for a second treat this year as he has a collection of novellas arriving near the back end of 2022. This book takes the coming-of-age aspect and pairs it with some heavy topics (most notably alcoholism) and doesn’t pull any punches. Malfi writes like a man possessed throughout and is one of the few authors who will put the pedal to the floor – and still somehow find another gear.

Really great stuff from a master!

5/5