What's it like to be the first on the "scene of the crime"? What's it like to visit the living vacuum of traumatic events; places empty of humanity yet brimming with the electrified air of horrifying aftershock. Or maybe they're not so empty. Was that a thump upstairs? Did that shadow just move? Why is there a foot laying here, and where is the rest of the body? Is something out there?

This collection of derelictions (i.e. stories of abandonment) is experimental writing in its truest form. With each tale Adam Nevill places us in a story post-climax, or a sort of unresolved or unfinished epilogue. Something truly devastating has happened in this setting, but all we're given are grim clues. There are no characters and no dialogue. Only descriptions of scenes and a narrative style that feels like someone is leading you through the chaos. You are intrigued, you are disturbed, and you're not quite sure what is going on.

The thing about such an approach to "storytelling" is that it's incredibly risky. It's automatically going to put most readers into a love-it-or-hate-it camp from the very first couple of stories. But the author is discerning enough to know that, and in fact he is intentionally playing with form and expression. There is an author's note at the back of the book where he explains the germ for the collection, and what other avenues of thought and experimentation came out of that. It's all very compelling, but does it work?

For me, at least, the answer is a strong yes! Both the wordsmith and the horror lover in me absolutely enjoyed what Nevill is trying to accomplish here, and I think he manages to knock it out of the park. The collection is a mash up of cult/alien/creature stories, all very strange and eerie in their telling. Though follow a similar narrative style, they are all different enough to stand on their own. Each has at least one scene (usually the ending) that will haunt me for a long time. The writing is wonderfully descriptive and engaging; a vivid prose style that carries the brunt of the ploy and does it well, even without characters and even without dialogue.

My only complaint, though not a complaint really, is that the nature of the stories and the description-heavy writing style are such that each takes time to get through. They require slower reading and more processing. That's not a bad thing, but it does make reading them all back to back less of a satisfying endeavor. My recommendation would be to space them out over a period of weeks, or even one a month. They all deserve to ruminate in your mind, so give them the space to breath.

Again, this is very much a love it or leave it collection. Many readers I trust absolutely hated it, while others were enamored by it. Clearly I'm in the second camp, but I'm curious to hear what others think.

All the stories were gems in my opinion, and I loved them all for different reasons. To rank them would be to degrade them, but regardless if I had to (sorry Adam) it may look something like this:

"Hippocampus"
"Monument"
"Low Tide"
"Enlivened"
"Wyrd"
"Hold the World..."
"Turning the Tide" ( )

This very short book (102 pages) consists of seven horror stories, followed by the author’s explanation of what he was attempting here. Since they have no characters, and hence neither plot nor dialogue either, “stories” probably isn’t the word for them—Nevill himself calls them “derelictions”. Even the narrator is reduced almost to something like a hand-held camera, documenting various locations where something appalling, something unstoppable and inexplicable, has recently happened: these are seven descriptions of aftermath.
    I liked the first one (a Marie Celeste-like ocean freighter), the last (a small country town emptied, siphoned almost, of its human inhabitants) and also the prose itself—it’s beautifully written throughout. Overall, I felt that this doesn’t quite come off; these “derelictions” are a bit samey; a greater variety of disasters or atrocities and it might have worked. I like experimental stuff though, and gave this an extra star just for an author being brave enough, and imaginative enough, even to try something like this. ( )

This collection of short stories is a pretty cool experiment: all Nevill does is set a scene for the reader, describing a place that has just recently been the site of some horrific events. There are no real characters and the reader must suss out the narrative for themselves based on the chilling clues left behind. I read all of the stories in one sitting and ended up pretty tired of the gimmick by the last one, but that was my mistake. Taken one or two at a time, these glimpses of macabre stasis stoke the reader's imagination and make them part of the creative process, an act of authorial generosity we could all learn from. ( )

A brave theme for this short story collection; being entirely scenes narrated after events of horror, with no characters or dialogue or for the most part plot developments. Opener 'Hippocampus' is a familiar tale to the Nevill fan having being featured in a previous collection and a freebie, and which whilst obviously fitting this theme, seems to be a bit of a short changing for the reader who has purchased both books. The stories themselves I found well written, very adjective heavy but not overwhelmingly, and obviously affected by the author's home of Devon and the influence of the sea/coast. I won't give anything away, but my favourites were the last two which have a definite Lovecraftian feel, although one failed for me to really resolve properly and left a bit of confusion after a long patient build up. A second reading may open things up but possibly not a book of his I would read again. Maybe.
I would however, like to read the stories and background to the events themselves ... maybe Mr Nevill is setting that up for his next publication ? ( )