Review: Little Heaven

Little Heaven by Nick Cutter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While I still haven't read a word of Craig Davidson, this is the third book I've devoured from his horror alias Nick Cutter. Behind the Cutter name, Davidson goes to some gruesome places, while always barreling ahead on plot. How does he enter (and exit) that headspace?
A visceral, exciting and darkly funny read, this was the perfect antidote to my last book, Don Delillo's Underworld.
The Cutter stories have similarities. Trap a group on an island/undersea lab/forest compound, watch a seed of corruption spread disease/insanity/evil, see who lives the longest. Not to say they're repetitive - there's plenty of room for variety inside the framework. And the scraps of outside world we get in Little Heaven feel fresh and full of potential. I want to know more about the extended universe. The Troop and The Deep also gave tantalizing glimpses of larger context. Here's hoping there's enough Cutter material one day for him to give his fans an oeuvre-encompassing epic à la Dark Tower.
If you've got the stomach for it, this is a ripping yarn.