Haunter

Holy Hindus on a hot plate, the lady done did it again!!! Charlee's back at it with Haunter, a tale of redemption and salvation in the jungles of Cambodia and deserts of Texas that not only lives up to her debut but surpasses it in every way. Plot crunch: A new living incarnation of Shiva has arisen to protect a small Cambodian village but a small group of mercenaries led by a righteous buttwad is after the village to obtain the soma, a narcotic that is integral to their religious ceremonies. You are pulled into the past transgressions of the heroes as well as those of the mercs and you are never allowed for a second to take the easy way out. What keeps drawing me to Charlee's work is to stare unflinchingly at the worst aspects and actions of humanity with a sense of reverence for the horror of it instead of resorting to cheap shock tactics. Her prose is gorgeous, her words searing even amidst the worst moments (bad just isn't a strong enough word for the torture and mutilation that occurs here). As much as I loved This Symbiotic Fascination, its narrative was hampered by myriad plot lines that seemed to have little to no relation to the core story; thankfully Haunter bears no such issues. Sure, you have many tales being thrown at you simultaneously but by the end they are woven together seamlessly. Not for weak stomachs or hearts but a damn good read from one of the most original and powerful authors in horror.

I read this book right after reading a book by Edward Lee. I was disappointed at the lack of disturbing and realistic imagery in the Lee book.. but BOY, did I get it in this one! This is deep, dense, poetic, surreal, mystical and sometimes disgusting stuff. I didn't give it 5 stars because I felt like it could of been trimmed.. I think the author lost her way in a few parts. Anyway, I am dying to read more by her. This book is original and beats the heck out of most of the horror out there.

Charlee Jacob, Haunter (Leisure, 2003)For years I have been searching for the book that would compete with Robert Devereaux's debut novel, Deadweight, out on the bleeding edge of Most Extreme Horror Novel. No one has been willing to tread the same path of degradation, misery, and despair. What anguish must it cause a writer (because, as we all know, to convey emotions effectively the writer must feel them twice as strongly) to write a novel of such unremitting, relentless brutality?Well, I finally found it. Charlee Jacob has written such a viscerally disturbing book in Haunter that even I had to put it down a few times simply because what was going on was so disgusting. And that, folks, takes some nasty material to achieve.Haunter is a sequel of sorts to Jacob's first novel, This Symbiotic Fascination. Where that novel dealt with the depredations of baby brother Arcan Tyler, in Haunter Jacob focuses on the two big brothers, Vietnam vets Harry and Elliot Tyler. Elliot, after the war, joined a ragtag band of mercenaries led by the brutally perverse Saab Gestetner; Harry, after a quick trip home (related in This Symbiotic Fascination), simply vanished into the jungle, never to be seen again. Or so everyone thinks.There's a new drug on the Cambodian streets called Soma. One dose will do you. After you take it, you spend a while in screaming hysterics, seeing the very bowels of hell. But after that, you become a being of radiant happiness, one whose contentment literally shines. And you stay that way for the rest of your natural life. The only problem is, it's really annoying the rest of Cambodia's drug lords. So, armed with only a supplier's name, the biggest of them hires Gestetner and his mercs to find the source of the Soma and either appropriate it or stamp it out. They find, however, a lot more than just a drug operation...A plot (however thin) and really nasty-sounding events are not, however, enough to make a book a good novel. What really causes Haunter to rise above the masses is Jacob's use of the Cambodian landscape and the Hindu mythology in which it is steeped to address (and inventively answer) all those existential questions literature is "supposed" to address. You know, why are we here, what are we doing, etc. Between that and Jacob's willingness to spend time building her characters (in order, mostly, just to make you feel that little bit worse when the inevitable other shoe drops), this book comes out a winner. Better than This Symbiotic Fascination, but if you want to get more of a grip on Harry Tyler, you'll want to read that one first anyway. ****

...just when I think I've written something really transgressive,something new by Charlee Jacob appears and takes me to school.However,a lesson from this particular teacher is always welcome.HAUNTER is brilliant,period. It contains passages that made me utter "Oh my GOD..." out loud. HAUNTER is wondrous,butdon't assume you're ever going to want to eat again after youread it.

Charlee Jacob scares me to death and I love it! Horror fans everywhere, rejoice, because horror fiction was jolted out of the doldrums when Ms. Jacob roared onto the scene with THIS SYMBIOTIC FASCINATION. She returns with the horrific, nightmarish, brutal and beautifully written HAUNTER, which grabs the reader by the subconscious and does not relent until the final page. A Cambodian god returns in the body of a former American GI to crush demons that have invaded a small Cambodian village, and a nightmare ensues before peace can be realized. Mind-blowing hardcore horror from the hottest new writer in the field, you MUST READ CHARLEE JACOB!