Blood Donors

‘The Finger’ is a block of flats that rises into the skies like a middle finger, pointing out at those in charge who hold the power to exert change over the lives of Marshall O’Connor and those who live there.  Life is hard for its inhabitants, a lack of investment in the building and its interior mean they are deemed as being somehow sub-human.  Life takes a further turn for the worse when inhabitants of the flats begin to die under mysterious circumstances.  The suggestion is that this is as a consequence of drug dealing which is believed to be rife within the building.

Marshall, however, begins to believe something more sinister is at work and together with friend Mustapha begins to explore the possible causes, uncovering a dark secret as they do so, that the infestation of bed bugs within the tower are more than just a minor irritation.  The horror of this situation escalates as the bed bugs grow ever more predatory.

This is a confident debut, author Steve Tasane’s creation of a unique adolescent patois is convincing and adds to the insular nature of the book which makes the horror all the more deeply felt.  The bed bugs at the heart of the story are cleverly deployed and the story succeeds in making the skin crawl and the flesh creep whilst also having more serious undertones around the nature of social and class prejudice.