We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk

We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk.
Published 23rd January 2020 in paperback by Flame Tree Press. Also available in hardback and ebook formats.
Read January 2020.

Sugar Hill mental asylum - a place where the mentally ill can be cared for and treated with dignity. Or is it?

Dr Alpert has always tried to help his patients in a caring and holistic way, without resorting to the barbaric methods of the past, or relying on the sole use of the strong psychotropic drugs that have become so fashionable. He has a talent for healing tortured souls and believes that his protege, Dr Drexler does too.

Unfortunately, Dr Drexler is not quite the man Dr Alpert thinks he is. He has been working secretly on a drug to cure schizophrenia - one which returns patients miraculously to their former selves - and having run out of funding for clinical trials, he has started using it on the inmates of Sugar Hill.

But the drug has unforseen side-effects, that force previous traumas to the surface and set inner demons free.

And the latest test subject, has some pretty scary demons...

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As a youth, I was a massive fan of a horror book, particularly James Herbert and Stephen King, and loved being scared out of my wits by them. 

Although I tend not to read much horror these days, I do occasionally indulge my old passion when I come across one which really intrigues me, as was the case with We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk - and I am very glad that I did, as it has reminded me of why I used to love them so much.

The setting of a secure mental asylum is always one which bodes well for a horror tale - dangerous, caged inmates and experimental psychotropic drugs with unexpected side-effects? Yes, please!

But I would say that the first two thirds of this novel read more like a psychological thriller, with horror elements, rather than the straightforward asylum-based horror tale I was expecting. This is far from a criticism by the way, Mr Kirk, as I was completely immersed in this book from page one and absolutely devoured it!

Once you get to the final third of the book, then you are blind-sided into a full-scale Stephen King-style horror that completely blows your mind (if you will pardon the pun) - with added Hellraiser to boot!. Here is where the real terror lies and while you are never quite sure what is real and what isn't, there is no doubt that you are right in the middle of a nightmare - and what a nightmare! I loved it.

This story is many layered, finely crafted and wonderfully disturbing. There is a lot of information here about the history of psychiatric treatment, which goodness knows is horrific enough in its own right, but there is so much more.

Yes, this is horror, but it actually covers a lot of interesting ground on the philosophical front, which I found fascinating. It examines the role childhood trauma, PTSD, and feelings of guilt play in dictating adult behaviour, and the importance of forgiveness and redemption in the healing process. And is not afraid to ask questions about how different the doctors are from the patients that they claim to be helping, and whether or not psychiatric treatment has really advanced at all.

Have no doubt, this is a classy novel and I have been extremely impressed by it. I will certainly be investigating Brian Kirk's other work, the next time I feel my own inner demons clamouring for a grisly fix.

We Are Monsters is available now from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Brian Kirk and Flame Tree Press for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review. Thank you also to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

From the book cover:

Some doctors are sicker than their patients. 

When a troubled psychiatrist loses funding to perform clinical trials on an experimental cure for schizophrenia, he begins testing it on his asylum s criminally insane, triggering a series of side effects that opens the mind of his hospital s most dangerous patient, setting his inner demons free. 

Nominated for a Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a First Novel.

"A stark and frightening novel. Horror fans should definitely seek this one out." Booklist

FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

About the author:

Brian Kirk Brian Kirk is an author of dark thrillers and psychological suspense. 

His debut novel, We Are Monsters, was released in July 2015 and was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a First Novel.
His short fiction has been published in many notable magazines and anthologies. Most recently, Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories and Behold! Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders, where his work appears alongside multiple New York Times bestselling authors, and received an honorable mention in Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year compilation.

During the day, Brian works as a freelance marketing and creative consultant. His experience working on large, integrated advertising campaigns for international companies has helped him build
an effective author platform, and makes him a strong marketing ally for his publishing partners.

In addition, Brian has an eye for emerging media trends and an ability to integrate storytelling into new technologies and platforms.