The Mall

By S. L. Grey

Dan works at a bookstore in a deadly dull shopping mall where nothing ever happens. He's an angsty emo-kid who sells mid-list books to mid-list people for the minimum wage. He hates his job.

Rhoda has dragged her babysitting charge to the mall so she can meet her dealer and score some coke. Now the kid's run off, and she has two hours to find him. She hates her life.

Rhoda bullies Dan into helping her search, but as they explore the neon-lit corridors behind the mall, disturbing text messages lure them into the bowels of the building, where old mannequins are stored in grave-like piles and raw sewage drips off the ceiling. The only escape is down, and before long Dan and Rhoda are trapped in a service lift listening to head-splitting musak. Worst of all, the lift's not stopping at the bottom floor.

Plummeting into the earth, Dan and Rhoda enter a sinister underworld that mirrors their worst fears. Forced to complete a series of twisted tasks to find their way out, they finally emerge into the brightly lit food court, sick with relief at the banal sight of people shopping and eating. But something feels different. Why are the shoppers all pumped full of silicone? Why are the shop assistants chained to their counters? And why is a cafe called McColon's selling lumps of bleeding meat?

Just when they think they've made it back to the mall, they realise their nightmare has only just begun...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Corvus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780857892713

S. L. Grey

S. L. Grey is a collaboration between Sarah Lotz and Louis Greenberg. Sarah is a novelist and screenwriter and die-hard zombie fanatic. She writes crime novels and thrillers under her own name, and as Lily Herne she and her daughter Savannah Lotz write the Deadlands series of zombie novels for young adults. Louis is a Johannesburg-based fiction writer and editor. He was a bookseller for several years, and has a Master's degree in vampire fiction and a doctorate on post-religious apocalyptic fiction.

Reviews for The Mall

[bibliobeck · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book for the Kindle as part of Amazon's 12 days of Kindle promo. In a nutshell Rhoda (a tough girl with a bad coke habit) 'loses' a child in a shopping mall and is convinced that Dan the emo assistant in the book shop can help her find him, so she forces him into the back corridors of the mall after it's closed. The corridors make no sense with twists and turns, going deeper and deeper underground. They are chased by a snorting, stinking creature whilst at the same time receiving mysterious text messages even though their phones are out of range. After a series of near misses with revolting people and creatures, they find themselves back in the mall; only this time it looks different. The shop assistants are chained to their counters (unless they are on a 'moist' or a 'victual' break) and the shoppers literally shop 'til they drop. McColon's is the venue of choice for assistants to take their victual break. The poster on the door reads Clog your intestines with crap so that you don't get hungry. Want to know more? You'll have to read it to find out.I'm not sure if I'd describe this a horror or a very very black commentary on consumerism. Either way I enjoyed it, would not have been disappointed even if I'd paid full price for it and would certainly recommend it. Read it... by the way, would you like starchsticks with that?

[bunnyhero-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

wish i'd known this was the first of a series before reading this. on its own it's just absurd and pointless.

[clfisha · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dan is an Emo loser who works in a giant bland mall in Johannesburg and Rhoda (a strung out junky) is about to seriously ruin his day, dragging him through back corridors searching for the lost kid she was babysitting. Which is bad enough, but then they get lost, some psycho keeps sending text messages and the power goes. Then something starts chasing them in the dark...I don't usually like horror novels, grotesque but dull is my usual impression and this proved no exception (use the fact that I also thought this about Dawn of the Dead as your gauge). However I can see it has positives for fans of the genre. It is a refreshing new take on the consumerism/horror melding and it does have some nice set pieces, particularly the descent into hellish mall. Darkness and mannequins sure, but also blinding mirrors and dark water and the lost dregs of society. The other mall with its amusing slogans and grotesque inhabitants, are suitably twisted and eerie. What I can't forgive is it commits the cardinal sin of the genre: characters that are far too stupid to live. Seriously I nearly threw the book at the wall. They are also unlikeable and, I admit I might be picking holes here, but I didn't find them particularly believable either. Talk about twisting to fit the predictable ending. I could rant on but I won't, I don’t think it’s a terrible book but just a very bad fit for meI can't recommend it but horror fans might want to check out other reviews.