A stunning cover and a masterful opening scene drew me into what the blurb promises to be awesomely morbid and artistically distasteful. After Banksy's secrecy, Damien Hirst's use of dead animals and the popularity of Gunther von Hagen's public display of corpses, the premise of David Fennell's thriller seems only too likely.
It is immediately apparent this is a male perspective and that is refreshing for me after reading mostly female authors this year. But I find it hard to believe The Art of Death is a debut novel as the writing style is so smooth and the scene-setting so real. The language is, at times, quite lyrical (a swell of people).
It is immediately apparent this is a male perspective and that is refreshing for me after reading mostly female authors this year. But I find it hard to believe The Art of Death is a debut novel as the writing style is so smooth and the scene-setting so real. The language is, at times, quite lyrical (a swell of people).