Katja From the Punk Band

March 15, 2010
This grungy, industrial novel is set during a dark, rainy night on an island where out-of-control industry routinely chews people into pulp. Having stolen a vial that supposedly contains a potent new drug from her sometime boyfriend, Katja hopes to barter it for passage to the mainland. Her plans lead to tenuous alliances with several equally desperate island dwellers, including junkies, drug lords, and corrupt parole officers, who cling to the belief that something—video games, drugs, self-mutilation, love, or just getting off the island—will set them free. Logan (Pretty Little Things to Fill Up the Void
) maneuvers a large cast through overlapping sections of the plot, setting up characters separately and then slamming them into violent confrontations. Readers who can tolerate the deliberately unpleasant action will appreciate the skill with which it's presented.