Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Horror may come in different guises, the simple fact that the most terrifying is that which comes close to home is what will scare you most.
You can read about mutant insects that make your skin scratch and itch as though they are running around in your body, you can feel the terror in the unexplained, the vampires, the ghouls, the psycho goblins, the spectres that float and the demons who will tear you limb from limb, but nothing comes close to the truth that fear is driven by the one that you invite into your home.
There is revulsion to be confronted, a human taste of disgust to wash out of the mouth as we consider just how many people beyond our front door have thoughts and designs that would shock us to the core, not because their values, political or personal don’t align with our own standards and morals, but because they are genuinely out there thinking of hurting us, to teach us a lesson, to submit us to their will.
The Boyfriend by Bootle’s own master of the unexpected D.E. McCluskey is a poignant and powerful novel that captures the fear of the ones that are like those wolves of old fairy tales, the ones that wear their fur on the insides, the ones with the charming smile and who splash the proverbial cash, who make you or a member of your family desired, wanted, special, and who once behind closed doors will do anything and everything to prove they are not a gift sent from the heavens, but from a place reserved from a darker, more insidious world, one where humanity is the most terrifying creature of all…. because it wears our face and takes on the persona of decency for a while.
The repetition of shock of the book may deter some, and it is with an imploring sense of understanding that they would be urged to see past the moment, for as The Boyfriend explores personal terror and injury, we need to understand just how some people out there can be so overt in their damaged belief, we need the clues to spot them, to learn from the mistakes of the scribe’s heroine.
The book does not hold back, and for that it should be applauded fully for its insight, for the balance it holds when you realise that for every sick and demented soul willing to do harm, there is someone out there who will have your back and ready to unspeakable acts to them as revenge.
The Boyfriend is there to give the reader the understanding that not everything that makes you scared or gives you the nudge of fear is shown by the appearance of a swarm of ants coming up through the ground and devouring you, it is what lays beneath the skin of those you want to love.
Ian D. Hall