I do enjoy a genre-bending book! I loved how Snakes and Ladders began as a crime thriller, then it morphed into pulp science fiction and ended as horror. It was surprising and fast-paced. That’s exactly my kind of read!
The novel begins with a window cleaner sizing up goods through people’s windows so that he can rob them later. It proceeds like one of those British gangster films which are both gritty and entertaining. We are introduced to a number of characters who then end up at a creepy old manor house and what seemed like a straight-forward crime plot then becomes weird. This is the third of Morton R Leader’s books I’ve read and it’s definitely my favourite yet. The only thing I wasn’t sure about was the ending of the epilogue, which I felt needed more development. I don’t want to give much more away, other than to recommend it if you like genre-defying plot-focused books with horrible characters and a very dark humour.
Independently published in 2023.