A town on its knees, dread’s bony fingers wrapping around its throat and squeezing, death rattles soon to follow.
Drugs, filth, and a lack of human decency are starving it of hope.
Introducing Simon Dooley, our trauma-driven wannabe superhero, the relentless voice of his dead mother pleading with him to “end the chaos.” Dressed in a leotard and armed only with a dozen dog poop bags, Simon’s plight will find him falling in love and going head to head with the seediest characters walking the streets.
The town needed a hero… it got Reformo.
Dark bleatings, tribe! This is a bit of an odd book I’m reviewing today, because it’s not strictly a *horror* story. But then… what IS horror? This is a genre-blend that infuses thriller, comedy, yes – horror, romance, and comic book shenanigans. As I read it, I was thinking that I might describe it sort of like Psycho meets Super, but not quite.
Simon is just an average dude who, thanks to his mother’s obsessive need for order, is now obsessed with cleaning up the streets of his hole of a town. It’s gone to the dogs, you might say. It’s rubbish. There are thieves everywhere, and you’ll probably step in dog poo as you flee from them. People play their crap music way too loudly, with reckless abandon and no consideration for their neighbours, who are probably out doing drugs anyway.
Simon, clearly, decided a while ago that he’s going to take matters into his own hands because before he starts, he goes to the trouble of having a costume… er… suit… made. A suit that is questioned every time someone sees it. A suit that is basically a leotard with a cape and a mask with no mouth hole, because he forgot to ask for one, naturally.
Simon, AKA Reformo, is a comical active protagonist because though he’s very much set on his mission, unfortunate things keep happening to him along the way. He very much reminded me of Butters from South Park. You’re on his side, though you might question how effective his methods are from time to time. Call me crazy, but I’m not sure you’ve made your point if you tried to stop a minor “crime” and ended up agreeing to let the perpetrator kick you in the balls.
I think people who enjoy things like Super, Kickass, and weirdly, the Dredd remake might enjoy this. It has all the trappings of a comedy crime thriller, but with heart and a serious thread running throughout. Certainly, fans of Mark Towse will get a real kick out of it. It contains his usual unique streak of humour and his very human characters, which are my personal favourite things about his writing in general.
If you’d like to get a copy or check out the author, there are some links below for you:
Bleeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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