About this ebook
A young man with a questionable past must survive a nightmare of terror and torture in this dark and powerful thriller from one of Canada’s most acclaimed contemporary authors
The Downtown Eastside in Vancouver, Canada, is about as close to urban hell as you can get in the Western Hemisphere. Yet in this cauldron of drugs, shattered dreams, and extreme violence, Tom Bauer and his girlfriend, Paulie—both ex-junkies and parents of baby Melody—are trying to make a life for themselves. For years, Tom, an epileptic, was firmly under the thumb of his psychopathic criminal cousin Jeremy, who dragged Tom down into a netherworld of addiction, prostitution, pornography, sadism, and murder. But those days are over, or so Tom believes—until the day that he returns home from work to find two vicious thugs waiting for him and Paulie, and little Mel gone. What happens next will change Tom’s life forever and outdo every horror that still dwells in the shadows of his memory.
In this sequel to her critically acclaimed novella “Contact Sports,” author Eden Robinson returns to the gritty urban landscape of inner-city Vancouver and offers a disturbing view of human lives on a razor’s edge. A story that jumps freely backward and forward in time, presented in a brilliant and unconventional tapestry of literary styles, Robinson’s second novel is truly a mind-blowing experience that will thrill, move, enthrall, and horrify readers in equal measure.
The Downtown Eastside in Vancouver, Canada, is about as close to urban hell as you can get in the Western Hemisphere. Yet in this cauldron of drugs, shattered dreams, and extreme violence, Tom Bauer and his girlfriend, Paulie—both ex-junkies and parents of baby Melody—are trying to make a life for themselves. For years, Tom, an epileptic, was firmly under the thumb of his psychopathic criminal cousin Jeremy, who dragged Tom down into a netherworld of addiction, prostitution, pornography, sadism, and murder. But those days are over, or so Tom believes—until the day that he returns home from work to find two vicious thugs waiting for him and Paulie, and little Mel gone. What happens next will change Tom’s life forever and outdo every horror that still dwells in the shadows of his memory.
In this sequel to her critically acclaimed novella “Contact Sports,” author Eden Robinson returns to the gritty urban landscape of inner-city Vancouver and offers a disturbing view of human lives on a razor’s edge. A story that jumps freely backward and forward in time, presented in a brilliant and unconventional tapestry of literary styles, Robinson’s second novel is truly a mind-blowing experience that will thrill, move, enthrall, and horrify readers in equal measure.
About the author
Eden Robinson is a member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations, and has become one of Canada’s first female Native writers to gain international attention. Her 2000 novel, Monkey Beach, was nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award; it was the first English-language novel to be published by a Haisla writer. Traplines, her first book, was a collection of short stories published in 1995; it was a New York Times Editor’s Choice as well as a New York Times Notable Book. Her third work of fiction, Blood Sports, was released in 2006. Robinson lives in British Columbia.
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