The Heap

This is a remarkable book that tells a remarkable story about a group of street children confronted with a very difficult decision. (It took me weeks to obtain a copy, I guess because demand is so high for the book. But believe me, it was well worth the effort.) Anyway, I am most curious to know if this book is based on fact. I see that the author is an investigative reporter and wonder if the book isn't based on wide-spread reports about a similar-type incident that occured in South America not long ago. People in Brazil told me that the incident happened outside of a large city there and involved a Roman Catholic priest who had to flee the country after the children were forcibly removed from the community they had founded in a rubbish heap.

There are so many novels coming out in recent years that use mysteries of old as their centerpieces. Many of these countless titles piggyback on one another and employ the same tired devices beating them to death by infusing page after page with bland formula writing. This said, it is a real relief, and unexpected joy, to come across a book that totally revamps the genre and offers up a story so original that is near staggering. THE HEAP, simply put, is a stunning story that involves a fallen priest who, confronting his sudden doubts of faith, seeks refuge from the world among a group of street children who have established a unique community within a refuse dump. This story line alone is enough to carry this incredible book to its conclusion, but on top of it this skillful writer (of whom I know nothing) subtly injects numerous side-stories that act to serve as provocative metaphors in advancing the book's main theme. Not the least of these side-stories is one that concerns the timeless mystery of the Lost Word, a long-secret utterance that many throughout the ages have claimed if uttered aloud could destry the world. (Alas, a writer who takes a true and untapped mystery and, without embellishment, makes it all the more mysterious.) THE HEAP moved me like no book I have read in the past ten years. It made me laugh, cry and scream out in anger. It is truly a mesmerizing book that well captures the essence of the confused times we live in.

This book reminded me of The Lord of the Flies. The imagery is powerful and surreal, transporting the reader into a magical world. I was left wondering whether The Heap is a work of fiction, or the product of Gabriel Surin's psychosis. Surely, if all of this had really happened, it would have been reported in the news. And some of the children's life stories are just too awful to be believed. On the other hand, I have no doubt that the biblical heresies interspersed in the book are accurate - or at least as accurate as any other two thousand year old myths. The preface, swearing that this is a work of nonfiction, and the postscript, reminding the reader of the seriousness of the plight of street children, propell an Alice in Wonderland voyage in between. I found The Heap to be a wonderful book, a book that will leave a strong impression on anyone reading it.

This is what Jarret Keene, critic for Las Vegas City Life weekly newspaper wrote: "Now there's a new thriller writer to watch for: H.P. Albarelli Jr. whose first novel, THE HEAP, is as gripping as it is thought-provoking.... THE HEAP is the kind of imaginative novel that's a pleasure to read and then ruminate on. Symbolic without being soporific, visceral without being cliched, Albarelli's book about child welfare/warfare will easily make my Top-10 list for the Best Speculative Fiction of 2005."

I was disappointed after I finished reading The Heap because the book ended and there was nothing more to read. I wanted more. This book is quite unique in that it is written in a style that is deceptively disarming-- meaning, if you are able to set it down, its story keeps coming back at you, pulling you in. The Heap is a great story, and I hope to hell it's not true.