FAST-FOOD COWBOYS

In Guise’s novel, a pair of twins avenge their murdered father, starting a chain reaction of off-kilter events taking readers to hell and back.

In an unnamed town in the late 20th century, the local butcher’s apprentice, Danny Pigou, decides to kill the butcher to earn money and status for his family—most notably for his twin sons, Rory and Charles. Danny’s plot, however, only results in his own untimely death, and about 20 years later, the twins head into the butcher’s shop looking for revenge, and they get it; however, they’re spotted by local busybody Mrs. Bumblewood. The next morning, Charles goes to purchase an expensive abstract painting by rising artist Benjamin Klumpp, who mostly spends his days thinking about the things he hates most about women and relaxing in his bathtub. Soon, the often-drunk police detective Boyle is on the twins’ trail for the butcher’s murder, forcing them to seek refuge at the remote farm home of their dear murderous Aunt Bev; meanwhile, the butcher they murdered arrives in hell, where he’s just in time for tea and poker. The events in Guise’s novel flow chaotically, with characters popping in and out of the twins’ orbit, often with violent results. It all leads to a lively manifesto on life by the Devil himself. In the end, Guise’s story falls somewhere between a violent Coen Brothers movie, such as Fargo (1996), and Eugène Ionesco’s absurdism. It often feels as if new characters wander, lost, onto the page, make some strange announcements, and then awkwardly retreat. However, despite all the madcap fun and humor these surreal situations could offer, the proceedings frequently lack energy and don’t follow through on their bizarre premises. (Even a character’s beheading comes off as a mere detail, rather than a shock.) The butcher himself describes it best, while reflecting on life as nothing more than, “a series of disjointed happenings and accumulated waves.”

Strange characters and situations abound, but never quite live up to their zany potential.