The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

First line: “Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, often violently, just like love.”

I don’t ever want to know what it feels like to be burned alive, but Davidson came damn close to making me feel it. The opening scene, and many, many thereafter, offer nail-biting detail about what it’s like to burn and the even more painful process of trying to heal. The hero, a former handsome “f*ck artist” in the porn industry, ends up in the burn ward, and upon awakening months later, gets strange company. Marianne, a patient from the psych ward who, over many long drawn-out stories, reveals the two were lovers in Medieval times and that he has been burned twice before. He believes she is either schizophrenic or a manic depressive, or both. Yet she calmly tells him one day he’ll understand. She is a stone carver of gargoyles and takes him in after his release and the two begin their bizarre yet innocent relationship based on her belief that her heart belongs to him. Well-written, gutsy, evocative and ultimately, redemptive. The 465 page tome seemed too long and the story skitters off the path into the past too much to keep a brisk pace, yet the story is so good, the long length and occasional aside is forgiven. It’s a weird, wild, wonderful ride.

For: Something I guarantee you’ve never read anything remotely like before. – Malena Lott

Buy it at Amazon.