Would you call ‘pee of destruction’ a superpower? Then you’ve never had to deal with it. For Dave Smith, it’s the end of his world. You see, it burns through everything it touches. Boy does it burn. He was an average sort of a bloke before - now he’s a mortal danger to pretty much anything that happens to stand in his way. Toilets, trees, walls - nothing and nobody is safe. At least not when a certain call of nature comes, well, calling. So the poor guy doesn’t have a whole lot of options. It’s a case of problems, rather than options. How to cope? Where to wee? Why in the hell is this happening to me? Then there's the police to consider. |
Review
There’s a lot of humour in Man of Ruin as Dave struggles to find safe places to pee and figure out what he’s supposed to do about his odd situation, but there’s more to this novel than a peculiar super-power and the implicit comedy of it. There’s a death toll, and an almost Kafkaesque surrealism surrounding Dave’s newfound ability.
While I’ve referred to Dave’s corrosive urine as a super-power, this isn’t a super hero fantasy at all. Nobody is asking Dave if he’s heard of the Avenger’s Initiative. Man of Ruin is just a smidge more magic realism than urban fantasy but marries concepts from both genres well.
Man of Ruin is a fast-paced, highly entertaining read but it’s worth noting that the narrative includes a fair amount of British slang that may confuse some readers.
Book provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review