Nightjars, by Michael Wehunt
The Book
Synopsis:
Memento meets Dracula in this heart-thudding, unpredictable, and beautifully crafted novel of a man exposed for crimes he doesn’t remember committing, and the monsters that dwell at the heart of us all, from celebrated and critically acclaimed author Michael Wehunt.
One rainy night on a first date, Luke Oshel’s new crush never comes back from the restroom. But she leaves an old photograph under her napkin—Luke as a child, a dead body in the shadows of his bedroom, and a terrifying masked man. He has no recollection of this event.
Then more photos disrupt his life—Luke posing with murder victims, covered in blood—and he falls back into the deep paranoia and repressed memories he’s tried to leave behind. All the drugs and alcohol, therapy, and hypnosis sessions have never conquered his deepest fear—that he hasn’t escaped the hidden legacy of his father, who killed his victims by exsanguination before his own death. But now there is a new string of serial killings, and the evidence all points to Luke.
As his journey to uncover the truth unfolds in the North Georgia Appalachians, a threat arises that will risk everything he holds close, including his ex-wife and their young daughter. Now Luke must chase his father’s darkness through a centuries-old secret and learn what monsters truly are. And decide if he’s one of them.
My Review
Michael Wehunt's debut novel, The October Film Haunt, was a remarkable proposal, skillfully playing with classic genre tropes while also dabbing into the metahorror, so I was curious to see how he would approach vampires; Nightjars is a different beast, a sort of Renfield meets Memento, exploring that line between reality and memory and delivering a proposal that slowly weaves a complex story of despair and trauma, exploring Appalachia vamps in the process.
Luke Oshel is a divorced father haunted by the despicable legacy of his own father, a murderer; even worse, there seem to be photos portraying Luke as a child next to his father's victims, even if he can't remember those encounters. The spark that ignites a final spiraling is when a blind date abandons him at the restaurant, leaving behind another photograph showing young Luke standing beside a masked man and the body of a dead woman; he heads into the old cabin his father used to take him. At the same time, a new string of exsanguination murders has begun, and what if Luke is the responsible, as he has frequent blackouts?
Wehunt sets the novel premise by using Luke as an unreliable narrator, a deeply troubled character that is still dealing with the trauma attached to his father and his past; in certain ways, he's also playing with the idea of the confrontation between our own memories and its fallibility and the printed/recorded media. Following Luke's journey is agonising, especially as we are never sure if we can trust his own narration, not knowing if something is being kept from the reader; and that's probably the most brilliant aspect of this novel.
The introduction of Luke's ex-wife as the other POV helps to expand this idea, especially as we can notice the inconsistency between both; but it also grounds Luke's suffering, as we can see that even if they are no longer married, they still care for each other, and especially, their daughter in common.
I really enjoyed how the doubt is seeded into the reader, that build-up that leads us to the unveil of the mystery and the truth behind what Luke was experiencing; however, the ending was the only part that felt significantly weaker than the rest of what is an excellent novel.
Expect this to be a slow novel, one that takes a sweet time to set up the foundations to build its plot; it's not a problem as it is by design, but be aware of it.
Nightjars is a great sophomore novel, one that I recommend if you are interested in a different approach to such a classic creature as the vampire, while also playing with the concept of horror in the multimedia era. Definitely, consider adding it to your spooky month lists!
The Author/s
Michael Wehunt
Michael Wehunt grew up in North Georgia, close enough to the Appalachians to feel them but not quite easily see them. There were woods, and woodsmoke, and warmth. He did not make it far when he left, falling sixty miles south to the lost city of Atlanta, where he lives today, with fewer woods but still many trees. He writes. He reads. Robert Aickman fidgets next to Mary Oliver on his favorite bookshelf.
His short fiction has appeared in many places, including multiple best-of anthologies. His debut collection, Greener Pastures, was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award, shortlisted for the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts’ Crawford Award, and published in Spain, where it garnered nominations for the Premio Ignotus and Premio Amaltea, winning the latter. It is available from Apex Publications. He is currently at work on his first novel and preparing his second collection for publication.
Michael is represented by Ron Eckel at CookeMcDermid Agency.