A dark and gritty collection that engages with our darkest, most self-destructive impulses
From Independent Book Review (www.IndependentBookReview.com):
"The six stories of Brian McQuilkin's Bled White are not for the faint of heart. There is no getting around it: this collection is DARK. Murder, abuse, self-harm, addiction-nothing is off limits. The stories are drenched in blood and sex. Understandably, this type of content is not for everyone, which McQuilkin acknowledges in the book's Foreword, but the collection is not purely lurid detail. Readers who want to be immersed in gory and salacious material are going to find rewarding character moments waiting for them under the surface.
At their best, the stories examine the motivations and psychic traumas that both cause and result from the gritty substance of the characters' lives. Lost children, deadbeat parents, lust, and maybe love form the basis of the characterizations. None can be said to cope with these issues well-but who among us does?
The characters are almost uniformly damaged, even self-destructive. My favorite title, the final one in the collection, focuses on a child protagonist navigating an ethical gray area while dealing with an abusive father and an emotionally detached mother. It's an intriguing exploration of morality, family relationships, and the influence of one's setting.
The stories take place in New Jersey and the Philadelphia area, focusing primarily on working class individuals and families. Places such as seedy bars, a strip club, and a warehouse along the Delaware River provide specific locations. The Jersey Shore, the Pine Barrens, and the legend of the Jersey Devil all also make appearances.
Tonally, there is a mixture of types. One story takes a turn toward horror in a surprising but effective ending. Another employs science fiction when a man with crippling social anxiety builds a teleportation device, leading to a twist like something out of The Twilight Zone. The variety helps each story feel fresh. All, however, retain the type of dark grittiness described above.
[...]
Bled White has a good heart at its core. It is an evocation of a particular type of place and character, and it revels in its dark subject matter. Readers who are looking for heart, grit, and shocking moments will find much to appreciate here."
A collection of 6 short stories ranging from the darkly comical to the tragic. A woman discovers that some things that are broken are not easily fixed ("Bled White"); a part-time drug dealer risks what little he has to do the right thing ("Dottie's Missing Heart"); a young lifeguard with an unhealthy obsession learns the meaning of hubris ("The Devil of Leeds"); a self-obsessed young man mires in dejection ("Pity Party at the Lounge of Doom"); an emotionally scarred inventor tries to take refuge from the world only to find things can only get worse ("Norton's Escape"); and a young boy in Philadelphia is determined to get his little brother a Christmas gift ("A Lawless Christmas").
