I do enjoy R.J. Benetti’s books, and having read many, I know what I’m getting, or at least I thought I did.
The opening of Ass Slasher made me sit back and think to myself, “Hang on; he’s doing something different!” The important thing here is Ass Slasher isn’t different for the sake of it; it twists the narrative from the start, delivering a level of intrigue and a tease of something unusual. It almost disorientates to a point where you feel like you’re peeping into someone’s darkness, and you shouldn’t be.
However, for me, the real strength of Ass Slasher comes from R.J.’s use of language. Despite part of the subject matter being crude and vile, he paints the images with a lyrical beauty, an almost poetic weaving of words that allows you to feel every detail, to smell it, to taste it. If it was not for the subject matter, this book would be (should be) taught in schools to show how the power of words can place the reader’s nose right in the middle of the situation.
The characters are sublime, and created with a panache which I found reminiscent of John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. Despite the obvious flaws and weaknesses of the many players in Ass Slasher, I couldn’t help but love the delusional fools.
And the twist? I knew it was coming, but I sort of forgot about it. R.J. weaves an enchanting cloak of deception and misdirection throughout the pages, and it resulted in me not seeing the obvious, not seeing what I already knew and he’d already told me in the narrative, so when all was revealed, I could only sit, nod my head, and chastise myself for refusing to accept things as they really were.
As I said at the start, I’ve read many of R.J.’s books, but this is a new level, a pinnacle of his ability and voice. If you’ve read it, you’ll understand my delight. If you haven’t, then you really don’t deserve to have eyes.