Will I love High Life?

High Life is pitch black Hollywood noir. It’s one of those rare books that starts out dark and just keeps getting darker and more disturbing. Stokoe outdoes himself on nearly every page. This book was shocking and eye-opening, even for me. I’ve read a lot of extreme horror and I think this might outdo nearly all of them. Stokoe manages to fully flesh out the characters, rendering them terrifying, absurd, and profoundly sad, and does so with a style that is compulsively readable.

This book is a character study about a man who will go to any lengths to be famous. The horror comes from his complete disregard for his actions and the separation he builds mentally, detaching himself from some of the sick things he’s willing to do to achieve his goal. It’s a depressing, beautifully written noir that will leave you feeling gross and uncomfortable. In a good way.