READING IDEAS FOR THE WEEK

Reprieve by James Han Mattson, Bloomsbury £16.99

To create a horror story out of a game is one thing, but for its message to be more than another “scary story” creates a more thrilling – and realistic – horror. That is exactly what James Han Mattson achieves with his latest novel Reprieve.

We follow the lives of people who are loosely intertwined with each other, only for them to come together when a gruesome murder unfolds in an escape room.

If you are a fan of classic horror tropes, for example, blood and gore, this can still be found within the pages of Reprieve.

However, the novel centres itself on social commentary and in particular race, gender, and sexuality.

Each of these pillars become beacons for the characters in their reason for ending up at Quigley House – the manor in which the escape room is found.

I found this the most intriguing part of the novel. For as much as I love a classic horror story, there is something more to it when you feel like these characters are grounded in our world.

By connecting them to real-world issues, as Mattson does, we feel and see their struggle not only in the horror house but within society as well – “You watch this Kendra…this is the world we live in.”

I believe this novel has come out just in time, with the rising popularity of the Netflix series Squid Game.

Whilst the two are quite different in their plots and conclusions, the idea of mixing games with unfolding real-time horror as a way of dissecting our society certainly moves between both of them.

If you enjoyed Squid Game for its captivating characters and its never-ending twists, Reprieve will certainly be for you.

The only criticism I can find with this book is that the number of character insights can be a little confusing at times.

I occasionally felt lost, and found myself forgetting the number of characters we meet.

However, it only took a brief re-read for me to resteady myself in their narratives and get back into the flow of the story again.

That slight quibble aside, Reprieve has quickly become one of my favourite books I have read this year and I can’t wait to see what Mattson writes next.