“Concrete Jungle” by Brett McBean is a fast-paced short novel exposing the effects on five victims trapped inside a parking garage after an inexplicable attack by Nature. As the title suggests, full grown trees, labyrinthine vines, and even bodies of water crash into the parking structure just after closing time of the adjacent mall, creating a jungle in a matter of days.
There are wild animals that appear as the story progresses, but McBean concentrates on the effects the event has on the psyches of the five survivors. One of them is mentally unstable and quickly turns savage and the remainder of the novel follows this conflict.
The only ways such a one setting tale will keep the reader’s interest are through superb character development and well paced suspense—and McBean delivers both. All the characters bring flaws and anxieties into the stressful situation at hand; there are no cardboard heroes and villains. These individual traits determine their decisions, not merely the author’s manipulations. I found the whole tale brutally realistic, along the lines of Scott Smith’s “The Ruins.”
I also liked that there is no obligatory scientific explanation for this catastrophic event and that the ending was left open for possible sequels. It is always more disturbing when the writer allows these kinds of events to remain mysterious, apparently supernatural. Often, over-explanation kills these kinds of stories.
There are two bonus stories of urban horror at the end of this edition. “Lullaby” by Tim Kroenert and “The Cage” by Nate Kenyon. The former is written in a more experimental style and the latter is more visceral and has a killer twist ending. They provide a compliment to McBean’s theme, but his own novel is the star attraction.
“Concrete Jungle” is a non-stop thrill ride with characters you can relate to that can easily be read in one or two sittings.
The edition reviewed is a soft cover signed and limited to only 180 copies at a standard quality paperback price and well worth the money for collectors as well.
– George Wilhite
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
