Review: The Kill Crew by Joseph D'Lacey

‘The Kill Crew’ (Stonegarden.net Publishing, 2009) is a post-apocalyptic novella from UK horror author Joseph D’Lacey, recent winner of The British Fantasy Society’s Best Newcomer Award.

My review of Joseph’s previous novel, ‘Garbage Man’, stated that, whilst very well written in most parts, it felt like it had been a novella extended with unnecessary filler prose. Such comments were mostly directed at the publisher/editor, but left me wondering what such a tale would have been like as a shortened, tense, breathless read. ‘The Kill Crew’ is a fantastic indication of Joseph’s ability to write in such a format. I barely paused while digesting the unravelling horror in this 80-page tale.

The story is largely centred on Sheri, who narrates the terrible condition she lives through after an apocalyptic event. Sheri and roughly two hundred souls live in a walled-off city block, doing their best to survive and praying eventual nightfall is staved off a little longer. That’s when a handful of the survivors must become ‘Stoppers’, armed with any weapon they can find to leave the block, ‘crewing’, and take down as many ‘Communters’ – zombie-like creatures – as possible, in order to maintain their safety within the block limits. But it is not that simple, because Joseph D’Lacey has a wonderful writing ability to really creep into the minds and circumstances of his characters. Surviving, for Sheri and the others, is becoming increasingly hard. They know they are fighting a war they can’t win, because more and more Commuters seem to be arriving daily.

Then, one night, on a particularly bad mission, everything changes. The Commuters are becoming organised, no longer just wandering shells – much like the vampires in the movie version of ‘I am Legend’ (in the novel they were quite organised). Something strange is happening to them, connected to the growth of black plants that have sprung forth from the apocalyptic fallout.

There is nothing too entirely groundbreaking in the post-apocalyptic side of things. What draws the reader in is the wonderful characterization of Sheri and comrades. They were not soldiers before the apocalyptic event, but they had to quickly turn into them to survive – some can’t though (there is a lottery for crewing if there aren’t enough volunteers), and some cannot live with their knowledge after a crewing, seeing what they could eventually be turned into, resorting to suicide.

As the novella moves on, an increasingly grim mood overwhelms the survivors. They realize their time is running out; it is this opportunity that Sheri and two others seize to tempt fate and see if they can move beyond their usual city limits.

I thoroughly recommend this novella, my confidence in Joseph D’Lacey definitely reinstated. ‘The Kill Crew’ is a gripping read, and will have you wondering just how you would handle yourself if the world suddenly came to an end.


Review by Craig Bezant
(Happy Halloween!)