Move Under Ground by Nick Mamatas


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
After the publication of 'On the Road', Jack Kerouac is hiding out in a cabin in Big Sur on the edge of the pacific when he starts getting letters from his old road buddy Neal Cassady. Something is seriously sick at the heart of America and only the beats and the poets and the bums can see it. Mugwumps, beetlemen, squid handed girls and murderous cultists are on the streets and the only way to avoid them is to move underground. Oh, and somewhere out in the dark waters the dead city of R'lyeh is rising and a dreaming god is about to wake up.

In a nutshell this is HP Lovecraft crossed with Jack Kerouac on a road trip across America. What could have been a simple parody is actually a surreal bit of beat poetry that captures the tone of both of its sources in a remarkably effective and ultimately horrifying way. As well as Neal Cassady, other characters from the beat generation including Allen Ginsburg and William Burroughs put in appearances with nods to their particular oeuvres. Fans of 'Naked Lunch' will appreciate the importance of arming yourself with canisters of bug spray ...

An excellent short read, and available as a free e-book too.



View all my reviews >>