You Will Love What You Have Killed

Surrealism, dark humor, and violence clash in Lambert’s powerful if disjointed debut, which chronicles a series of horrors lurking under the surface of bucolic Chicoutimi, Quebec. There’s an old man who thinks he’s a ghost, a young girl who dies in a snow blower accident, a kid who receives a pair of slippers made from the dead family dog, and a father named Kevin Lambert, driver of the snow blower, who, after a one-night stand, claims he “hates clingers who believe in transcendental concupiscence, or, in other words, love.” The small town’s second-grade children hate their teacher, which leads to a tense, dangerous atmosphere full of strange occurrences, as a series of children die and come back from the dead to plot their revenge against those responsible. The book’s final section turns to a group of troubled high school students who are riven by homophobic violence and animosity toward one of their teachers. Uncanny and violent, this novel takes an unflinching look at children’s processing of sexuality, abuse, and misfortune. While too many of the episodes are lacking in detail, Lambert’s sheer imagination will appeal to fans of bizarre fiction. (Oct.)