Title: Snarl

Author: John Boden

Release date: September 5th, 2023

Recently, I’ve seen a few folks on Tik Tok and IG express some love for John Boden’s newest novella, ‘Snarl,’ and I realized it has been some time since I’ve visited his works. I’ve not read a lot of his work, a previous co-authored novella and maybe a half dozen short stories in anthologies, and each time I’ve really enjoyed his writing voice and the characters he creates. Much like Ronald Kelly and his approach – where you instantly know who you’re reading – John Boden is similar, which made for some excitement starting this one.

Odd now, that having read this one, sometimes when you’re reading multiple books by completely different authors, two stories end up being similar. Such was the case with ‘Snarl,’ having just finished ‘Humane Sacrifice’ by Felix I.D. Dimaro. In Dimaro’s, we follow Melvin, a man with a learning disability, living with his mom and willing to do whatever needs to be done for the love of his live, his cat Lucy.

Well, in ‘Snarl,’ we follow Marlin, a man who is a bit slow upstairs, who lives with his mom and who is willing to do whatever it takes to help the love of his live, in this case, his lifelong sweetheart, Lisa.

What I liked: As I just said, that is the entirety of the principle of this story. We’re in a small town, where everyone knows everyone and as it goes, everyone learns each others business. In this case, Lisa lets Marlin know that her husband is being abusive and wants to use Marlin as a way out, as a means to an end, no matter if Marlin gets hurt or not.

As if often the case, there is more going on than meets the eye. Marlin confides to a trusted friend about what Lisa has asked him to do. This results in blackmail, twisted words and a converging of several plot points that Boden works so very well to telegraph far in advance and still keep the tension high and the reader on the edge of their seat.

Couple that with Marlin struggling with the reality that in the womb, he was a twin and he lived, while his brother died. He has guilt over this, believing he killed his brother. And now, his mom is dying of Cancer and doesn’t have much time left. Boden weaves this narrative like a master throughout and adds in some introspective journal type entries throughout.

The ending is emotional and works so very well.

What I didn’t like: Much like I’ve seen mentioned on each IG post and Tik Tok video, I fall into the same category – the synopsis of this novella doesn’t do the story justice. I read the synopsis and was intrigued, a bit perplexed and wasn’t totally sure what I was going to be reading. But after I worked to push that aside and just let the story unfold, boy did it ever, and I think the story we end up getting is far more powerful than what we’re lead to believe.

Why you should buy this: If you love small-town, character driven narratives that has an interwoven story that is so very, very well done, look no further. This could’ve been a one sitting read if I didn’t have a bunch of other books on the go, and that’s 100% because John weaved a tale so perfect and pristine, I was grinning like a maniac the entire time.

5/5