TITLE: Trial #1322
AUTHOR: Ryan Butcher
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
APPROXIMATE LENGTH: 270 pages
Recommended for readers seeking frightening psychological thrillers
GENRE
Thriller—Psychological/Medical
Trial #1322
is a claustrophobic tale of three flatmates who participate in a medical trial
and find themselves gradually devolving into terrified wrecks. For the most
part, this book is a drama about the characters’ interactions and each one’s
personal thoughts and inner turmoil. As their minds fly apart under the
influence of the drugs, the book becomes more akin to horror.
PACE
Trial #1322
spends the first half to two-thirds of the novel setting up the character
interactions, and is relatively slow-paced. Once the characters start
unraveling in the second half/last third, the pace picks up considerably,
making a mad sprint for the end.
PERSPECTIVE
Third person omniscient. Trial #1322 rotates between the
perspectives of the main characters with the same section, sometimes within the
same paragraph, thereby revealing how each character perceives the scene.
CONTENT REVIEW
Laura, Natalie, and Jason—who is dating
Natalie—are broke flatmates who are offered a handsome payment to participate
in a medical trial. Tension arises between them and the other participants, and
soon the three start turning on each other. As the trial progresses, emotions
boil over, paranoia ensues, and perceptions of reality unravel until no one is
certain what’s real and what’s imagined anymore.
As far as the plot goes, Trial #1322 is a pretty straightforward
medical thriller: a seemingly humdrum medical trial devolves into a nightmare
for the subjects. The book takes some time getting off the ground, with the
majority of the first half being about Jason’s interest in fellow participant
Louise, who uncannily resembles his beloved One That Got Away, Natalie’s
subsequent jealousy and paranoia, and Laura’s obsession with fellow participant
Sarah. It’s not until more than halfway through the novel that the “thrilling”
part of this thriller begins.
Once it gets going, Trial #1322 is a suspenseful,
claustrophobic read that makes it easy to sympathize with the characters’ fear.
Butcher has a talent for describing raw, unfiltered emotions in away that makes
his characters understandable if not likable. In fact, while all three main
characters come off as self-centered and obnoxious, and Butcher’s writing
brings them to life in a way that makes a reader nonetheless feel bad for them.
Annoying as she is, it’s hard not to pity Natalie as she watches her boyfriend
become increasingly drawn to a stranger. Or to feel for Laura as she pines for
Sarah in a classic case of unrequited love. Even Jason, who becomes primarily
driven by his libido, is depicted in such a light that one understands where
he’s coming from.
Ryan shows off his knack for suspense
in the horror-filled latter half of the novel, which turns up the intensity to
alarming levels. The characters are subjected to graphic violence seemingly at
random, and their latent fears are brought bubbling up to the surface. Dream
sequences and psychotic episodes are written in the same manner as the scenes
that actually happen, making it difficult for the reader to tell what is real.
This is intentional—the characters don’t know what’s real either. Are they
being tortured by a sadistic medical staff? Or are the behavioral drugs they’re
testing causing terrifying side effects?
My main issue with Trial #1322 is that it raises a lot of interesting questions but
fails to answer them by the end. Horror and drama aside, this book had a lot of
promising concepts about the clinical trial—what the participants are meant to
go through, what the medical staff is seeking, etc. Unfortunately, these
concepts aren’t realized to their full potential, and a lot of loose ends are
left dangling.
Aside from the slow start and
unanswered questions, Trial #1322 is
a great addition to the thriller genre. Butcher
is a gifted writer with fascinating ideas, a powerful flair for descriptions, and the skills to draw a reader in,
making him or her experience the characters’ heightened emotions and fall into
their disturbing world.
THE NITPICKY STUFF
This book contains some small errors,
but nothing too distracting.
Head's up to American readers: this novel uses British conventions.
There is a lot of profanity, sex, and
violence, including a rape scene, which some readers may find disturbing.
AUTHOR INFO
Ryan Butcher is a British author. Trial #1322 is his debut novel.
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