Graham Masterton - Flesh And Blood

[dem bones]

Graham Masterton - Flesh And Blood (Arrow, 2002: Originally Heinemann, 1994)

Nick Farmer

The blurb:

"The Green Traveller will come knocking at your door, and he will knock and knock and go on knocking until somebody lets him in. And then God help you."

Terence Pearson is obsessed with this legendary creature, half man - half tree. Knowing his children to be the Traveller's descendants, he slaughters them under the open sky in order to save them from their fate.

The Spellman Institute of Genetics are trying to implant the genetic codes of a human child into the mind of America's biggest pig, Captain Black, the size and weight of a small car. But what the surgeons don't know is that the human donor was one of Terence's children ...

The awesome pig, encoded with the malevolent and destructive psyche of the Green Traveller, embarks on a horrifically bloody and unstoppable rampage. Protected by law and multi-million dollar interests, it seems nothing can stop it ...



Have you got all that?

It doesn't really begin to tell you the outline of this incredibly convoluted story, but it's better than nothing. For starters, there's no mention of The Green Traveller's colourful entourage - the Leper, the Witness, the Swordsman, the Doctor, Knife and Naked. These supernatural entities assist him in his quest for favourite food - the fresh guts of his legion offspring. Then there's the heroine (of sorts), Animal Rights activist and bondage enthusiast Lily Monarch, who was raised by hogs (!) and therefore knows plenty about their nature. This comes in very handy when Frankenpig busts out of the Spellman Institute and goes on the rampage. Lily has entered into a marriage of convenience with Senator Bryan Cady who looks to be heading for election on an 'enforced vegetarian' ticket (It is to Masterton's great credit that he somehow makes you forget about the unlikelihood of the country that gave us McDonalds voting Vegan en masse. Oh, and the guy who hacks off his children's heads with a scythe is actually something of a heroic character. In places it's like The Wicker Man crossed with Lawrence James' The City. I'll maybe come back to this when my head is on straighter as I found it not only fascinating but a page-turner like nothing this side of Richard Laymon at his best.

damn! Why did I get rid of The Manitou unread?