“𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔲𝔪𝔞𝔫 𝔟𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔰 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢𝔵 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔳𝔦𝔩𝔢 𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔰, 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔲𝔟𝔩𝔦𝔪𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔠 𝔬𝔣 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔡𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔫𝔦𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤. 𝔒𝔲𝔯 𝔢𝔵𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔵𝔞𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔤𝔯𝔞𝔶 𝔦𝔣 𝔴𝔢 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔩𝔞𝔴𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰.”

Published: 05/10/20

Genre: Dystopian, horror 

Page count: 224

Format read: 📖

Other books read by this author: None

Set in a dystopian society where animals have been eradicated following a deadly virus & humans are now raised & slaughtered for meat, 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡 manages to be both unimaginable horror & a cautionary tale that feels far too close for comfort. From the POV of Marcus, a slaughterhouse manager, we see how society has embraced the Transition, readily accepting the ‘us & them’ rhetoric spewed by the government. Even Marcus, who is highly suspicious of the virus being a hoax, carries out his work methodically, remaining detached from the horror that surrounds him by careful use of vocabulary: ‘heads’ or ‘product’, never ‘people’ or ‘humans’. As Marcus struggles to support his ailing father & come to terms with the loss of his son, a ‘female’ is gifted to him by a business associate, throwing Marcus’s already fractured world into disarray.

The book is shocking, both in its content & the cool, calculated way in which the story is told. It raises questions about herd mentality, government propaganda, the meat & dairy industry, the willingness of people to turn on each other & the culpability of those who stand by & do nothing. It’s certainly not a comfortable read, but I think it’s an important one in today’s political climate.