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Bugs, drugs, murder and black magic all fit seamlessly into this heady novel set in rural Canada. In BLACK FLY SEASON, Giles Blunt takes the reader out of the city and off the beaten track to a rural town where they still have the perennial problems found in big cities. From the beginning, the reader is hooked into the story when a young woman's rather strange behavior in a rather seedy bar is not due to drink or drugs but due to the fact that she has a bullet lodged in her skull. Alongside a rather violent and homicidal drug dealer masquerading as a would-be native Indian going by the name of Red Bear who tends to solve all his problems with intimidation and/or with a gun, the reader is in for a wild ride. What is good about BLACK FLY SEASON is the fact that Blunt has written some amazing characters that are so vicious and visceral that they would frighten any normally sane person. There is a good mixture of the great Canadian outdoors, human sacrifice to enthral and bewitch the drug-addled followers, summary and messy executions to keep them in line and a rather nasty group of bikers as well. Ironically there is also a would-be poet who spends his time (when not trying to write poetry) holding imaginary interviews with well-known people such as author Martin Amis and talk-show host David Letterman. Of all the characters in this novel his inability to realize (until much too late) the predicament that he is in is surreal and sad. BLACK FLY SEASON is also a rather melodramatic book where we also have a dedicated police officer whose attempts to balance his professional life while coping with his wife's depression and his lack of familial relationship with his daughter makes him all the more human and vulnerable. In contrast, his partner does not make a big enough impression on the reader, which is a slight disappointment. However, the disappointment is not such that it should put you off this gripping book. I have been a fan of Giles Blunt ever since I sat down and read FORTY WORDS FOR SORROW in one sitting. With BLACK FLY SEASON, it is easy to see why Blunt is regarded as a good storyteller. He certainly knows how to tell a story and draw the reader into the characters and the landscape. Despite the abundance of creepy crawlies that might make you squeamish this is an outstanding novel with a deep resonance from the first page. A worthy novel to be savoured.
Reviewed by Ayo Onatade, February 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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