J.R. McConvey

J.R. McConvey is a writer new to me. Apparently, that’s my shortcoming, definitely not his. A consummate communicator, he’s been involved in copywriting, creating content for publications, organization and institutions, as well as writing and producing award-winning documentaries.

McConvey’s forthcoming novel, False Bodies, is an accomplished, entertaining, layered and often nuanced story defying genre, and at its core simply a good read.

The marketing blurb:

A genre-bending noir, and show more perhaps the squiddiest novel ever written, False Bodies creates a horror/thriller blend of the renowned Newfoundland culture seen in shows like Come From Away with the heart-pounding tension and creeping fear of Alien.

False Bodies follows monster hunter Eddie “The Yeti” Gesner to Newfoundland, to investigate a mass death on an offshore oil rig—which some say is the work of a kraken. A mysterious incident in Eddie’s life has made him obsessed with chasing unfathomable things, but when an antique diary plunges him into a watery world of squid cults, tentacled beasts and corporate greed, Eddie finds even his own fractured reality pushed to the brink, as he’s forced to confront an undersea power beyond human imagining.

What McConvey reveals is a strong, believable, character-driven narrative which is tense, saturated with environmental detail, and credible research. The feeling of Newfoundland lives throughout the story, in both the people and the geography. The voices of both Eddie, and the author of the diary ring true. Even when Eddie is faced with situations which should stretch the limits of believability, there are almost no moments of disbelief, even when the reader is presented with a telepathic, giant cephalopod which, of course, communicates in understandable English. My only quibble, and it is minor and truly in the realm of nit-picking, is the villain, who tended toward predictable, block-buster megalomania. It might have fit with McConvey’s more nuanced approach to have presented the villain more in the vane of Andrew Scott’s interpretation of Moriarity, than Samuel L. Jackson’s in-your-face Valentine. But, as I said, this is my own aesthetic rather than the vision of the author.

There was, as well, a sense of an homage, whether intentional or not, to Lovecraft and Jules Verne, and there were moments I was minded of Chris Carter’s now legendary The X-Files.

What is an even greater treat is the gorgeous layout Breakwater Books has presented in both print and digital. Such a joy to be immersed in that vision and dedication to art.

Overall, yes, this is a novel you will enjoy if you’re a lover of dark, quintessentially Canadian fantastika. show less