Containment

Subtitled “A Novel and Grimoire,” this amalgamation is more properly described as a hallucinogenic meditation and commonplace book. There is little plot in the sense of cause and effect; the narrative shifts among numb protagonists, exhibiting snapshots of their extreme suffering. An unnamed boy is imprisoned and beaten by a being he calls Angel. She gouges out his right eye and hangs him from hooks before he kills her and escapes. He may be one of the nephilim, the offspring of a fallen angel and a human woman, or he may not. Meanwhile, Louise and her armless, HIV-ridden mother wander the length and breadth of Africa. Her mother dies, and Louise is taken in by a tender stranger whose memories include participation in genocide. These sufferings are pornographically detailed and seemingly endless, with no sense of developing conflict. Unmoored from authentic fears, the book’s gruesome details are more escalating gross-outs than the truth of nightmares. Punctuating the hellscape are extracts from classic works whose connection to Jacob’s writing remains unelucidated. Those who recall Jacob’s Stoker-winning early work will find this disappointing book very distant from it. (Oct.)