In the Scrape by James Newman and Mark Steensland

 

(pb; 2019)

From the back cover

“Most kids dream about a new bike, a pair of top-dollar sneakers endorsed by their favorite athlete, or that totally awesome videogame everyone’s raving about. But thirteen-year-old Jake and his little brother Matthew want nothing more than to escape from their abusive father. As soon as possible, they plan to run away to California, where they will reunite with their mother and live happily ever after.

“It won’t be easy, though. After a scuffle with a local bully puts Jake’s arch-nemesis in the hospital, Sheriff Theresa McLelland starts poling her nose into their feud. During a trip to the family cabin for opening weekend of deer-hunting season, Jake and Matthew kick their plan into action, leaving Dad tied to a chair as they flee into the night. Meanwhile, the bully and his father have their own plans for revenge, and the events to follow will forever change the lives of everyone involved.”

 

Review

This 94-page novella, told from the vivid perspective of thirteen-year-old Jake Bradersen, is a straightforward tale of abuse, violence and redemption, with a few effective twists in the mix—a solid read by excellent writers, it’s a dark, wrong-side-of-the-woods coming-of-age work.

The Special by James Newman and Mark Steensland

 

(pb; 2018: novella)

Review

When Jerry Harford, a man with self-esteem issues, finds out his wife (Lisa) has been cheating on him, his best friend and co-worker (Mike) takes him a strange, Russian whore house where Jerry gets his ashes hauled. Unfortunately, Jerry has an addict’s personality, and nobody (not even the commanding Madame Zhora or her bouncer, Ivan) can stop him from getting what he wants.

Special is a fun, compelling, sometimes hilarious, and relatively restrained (considering its ickalicious elements) eighty-four-page novella that wastes no words in telling its character-sketched tale, a quick-escalation work with the feel of an Eighties B movie (I could imagine Frank Henenlotter or Stuart Gordon directing a film version of this). Despite its inherently pervy McGuffin, Special is surprisingly mainstream in its language, violence and delivery, nowhere near as sleazy as it could be. Chalk that up to Newman and Steensland’s excellent, cut-to-it, character-focused writing. This is a book worth owning if you love ‘80s B flick book horror, aren’t a prude, and like your pleasures short, sharp and fast.

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The resulting film was released stateside on October 13, 2020. B. Harrison Smith directed it, from a screenplay by source-book authors James Newman and Mark Steensland.

Davy Raphaely played Jerry. Dave Sheridan played Mike. Sarah French played Lisa.

Doug Henderson played Ivan. Susan Moses played Madame Zhora. Paul Cottman played Det. Barnes.