Leech: Creepy, Unputdownable Gothic Horror

In an isolated town, the Baron’s Doctor is found dead. The Medical Institute , that is the only supplier of medical personnel, sends a new doctor, he finds the old one was infected with a parasite. That is impossible as all Doctors are already possessed.This is difficult to explain, the main character is a body possessed by an intelligent symbiotic life form that is in countless other bodies and whose mind sees through the eyes of all of them, like a hive mind. Then along comes competition, an invasive parasite that lives inside humans. Unlike the Institute who has for hundreds of years replaced all doctors and chooses the brightest minds, the new threat is not so choosy.This is gothic horror with an almost sci-fi twist, the language is archaic and very much of the gothic period and this can take some getting used to but the writing is beautiful and evocative. There is tension throughout the story but it is weirdly compelling. The creeping invasive parasites, the cold, harsh, unforgiving land, the heartless hardened people, the atmosphere feels heavy and malignant. A fascinating read.

Bought as a present - the recipient loved it

leech merges many genres & it’s over all outcome is brilliant!!! Gothic, post-apocalyptic sci-fi & speculative fiction. The book is also metaphors for colonialism, capitalism & SA. With some fables thrown in.Leech is probably one of the strangest books I’ve ever read.. but one of the best. It’s very original. Imagine you were looking at humanity through a microscope and you were able to see everything about humanity & patterns. In the beginning things appear quite ordinary (very human) but alongside the narrator this world is very unordinary.The best way I can describe Leech is like this .. it’s like you’re having a conversation with someone and you’re not entirely sure what they’re on about but you don’t want to appear stupid so you carry & pretend. Then another person comes into the conversation & they start talking more in depth but you’re still kind of unsure because things aren’t really been explained. The prose is very mysterious like its narrator - things are revealed slowly but not explained… if that makes sense. Everything is revealed at the right time but at the same time I’ve never read a book like it. The tone of the prose has a strong 19th century writing style which i loved! It also has a little classic feel to it. The book is very confusing at times but with pseudo-omniscience it was very well written.This is a hard review for me to write there are details which I think is best left to the reader to discover on their own. For me giving these details would ruin the experience.. annoyingly quite a few reviewers have done this & not given a spoiler warning.My only issue with leech was thus, There is SA scene which in my opinion was unnecessary & came out of no where. There was already violation to one of the characters which I think was a metaphor for this anyway & towards the end things did kind of spiral. Also I should add none of the characters are extremely likeable.