Gareth Is Haunted's Reviews > They Were Here Before Us: A Novella in Pieces

This is a novella that weaves together different stories that explore death, nature, and love from unusual angles, such as insects or birds.

'Her lips were our velvet cushions, luxurious pillows where we could sleep and dream until our next feeding. Her pried-open, ever-vigilant eyes—our relaxing sauna, far more preferable and far more tepid than any mountain spring.'

The author creates a strange and haunting mood with his different perspectives. The stories are brief but powerful, and they make the reader wonder about their role in the world. The writing is colourful and poetic, but also shocking and graphic at times. Unfortunately, I did not connect with this book very much. It seemed to me that the prose was lacking emotion or was too focused on the author's agenda to then resonate with me. This is not a book for the squeamish, but for those who like dark and unconventional fiction.

'The wind whispers all around me, as if it were the voice of an immortal deity—as if he were telling me that he would protect me and my children no matter what.'

This book was just shy of the mark for me but has convinced me to try more of Eric LaRocca's work.