Much like Will Save the Galaxy for Food, I started reading Code Junkie because of my familiarity with its author. Jeffrey Koval has published several novels on Amazon (of which Code Junkie is the first) but he is most well known for creating the horror web-series EverymanHYBRID. Loosely speaking, it is a Slenderman-based ARG full of distorted camera recordings, confused timelines, non-Euclidean buildings, and lots of spooky forests. I've been following it since the beginning, and I'll still tune in every six months or so when a new update comes out, but it was only recently that I decided to check out some of Jeff's other work. I was not sure what to expect from a more traditional medium, but Code Junkie was a pleasant surprise and an interesting read--though it fumbles its climax and conclusion. In Code Junkie, we follow a man named Kevin after he looses his programming job in Deptford County and spirals into alcoholism and self-destruction. He gets into a terrible automobile accident, and wakes up two months later in his home, prescribed to strange pills and hallucinating about a grandfather he never knew. I will gloss over the details of the plot, as it is a better read if you are in the dark, but this is billed as a horror novel for a reason. Kevin experiences more memory lapses, and as strange details emerge about his past and the history of Deptford County we begin to suspect there is something more sinister lurking below the surface. Then we find out what it is.
The writing is good. It has a nice flow and I was always eager to keep reading; though the prose teeters on the edge of too flowery a handful of times. Kevin is a repulsive person but a compelling character, and although the story is written from his perspective it never feels like we are meant to sympathize with his bad decisions. His friends have distinct voices, and the descriptions we get of the landscape around Deptford add to the mystery and sense of unease that builds throughout the book. Even though we do not see much of it coherently, we get the feeling that this is a real world, with real people who have lives and desires beyond what is necessary to execute Kevin's story.
Ironically, the book is compelling until the 'plot' really starts to kick in. For a majority of the novel we are simply following Kevin as he blunders through life, learning more about his relationships and his past. As his memory lapses and hallucinations become more frequent and severe, he begins to investigate the source of the pills he has been taking and starts to question the incongruities in the reality he perceives. The last few chapters that follow Kevin's investigation into these matters are much less effective; the plot takes a front seat and the character interactions and surreal imagery are pushed down in favor of a more mundane mystery-investigation. And then we reach the ending.
If you're at all familiar with the works of Lovecraft, then his inspiration will be obvious in this book. From the chibi-Cthulhu featured on the cover to some of the later plot points, the novel is sprinkled with homages. Unfortunately, this includes his 'It came from Africa/India/etc!' motif as the explanation for the central horror of the work. Kevin's delusions are no work of a haunting, or a metaphor for his own faults, or anything interesting or profound or even character driven. He is the victim of a cult which worships a Native American deity, and they have been manipulating him to perpetuate their own existence. The cost of this perpetuation is great, however, and Kevin must make a terrible choice, one which, it is revealed, he has made once before. So then he makes it again.
The climax of this book is almost enough to ruin it. It is too melodramatic as a twist, and happens too fast to be effective. In the span of five pages everything is explained to us; the mythology behind the deity the cult worships; the reason for Kevin's hallucinations; the history he has forgotten. It is too much too fast, with too little set up in the events that came before. Yes, most of it technically makes sense, but we were given no reason to suspect even half of what is revealed, and once it is dropped on us we race to the ending at breakneck speed. Here is where Kevin stops feeling like a person. His reactions (or lack thereof) feel arbitrary. He has been prone to violent outbursts and instability, but after hearing the truth and witnessing a murder he too eagerly accepts his fate. The problem is not in the twist itself, but its execution. Had the revelations come more gradually, and begun earlier in the story, then perhaps Kevin's actions would make sense, but as it is the final few scenes simply do not have the impact they are supposed to.
I have been vague because, as I said, the book works well if you don't know what's coming. Once things are explained the whole thing feels like a bit of a let down, but the journey there is certainly worth it. It's no masterpiece, but it is still one of the better books I've read this year and has made me interested in checking out more of Koval's writing.
I must also bring up a technical issue. It could be entirely Amazon's fault, but the paragraph formatting of my copy of the book is messed up. There is inconsistent spacing between paragraphs as well as inconsistent indentation. I know Koval is a fan of House of Leaves, but if the format fucking was intentional it adds very little to the story. Gaps might symbolize Kevin's memory lapses, but they persist in the Epilogue, which is told from a third-person perspective. Once you are used to the poor formatting it's a nonissue, but in the beginning it is distracting. Again, I'm assuming this was just a problem with Amazon's publishing services or a bad file upload, but it was worth mentioning.
Code Junkie (along with some of Koval's other works) is available on Amazon in print and ebook formats.
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