Book Review: Love is the Law by Nick Mamatas

Love is the Law by Nick Mamatas

Paperback, First Edition, 200 pages

Published October 15th 2013 by Dark Horse Books

Nick Mamatas is a writer I discovered from seeing him on a panel at the HP Lovecraft film fest. So lets put that out there. Authors can find readers by doing this kind of thing. I made a note to look up his work, and this (at the time) soon to be released book was the first thing I was interested in. Not wanting to wait for it's release I read the Mamatas book the Portland library had Bullettime. That was a fantastic read and was reviewed here on this blog.

I liked that book, but I loved this one. One of the reasons I write punk fiction is because I want more of it myself. With mentions of Token Entry and Ludichrist in the text punk readers can relax that this is not phony punk setting. I liked that the story included a '89 Long Island punk kid vibe.

The story of Dawn Seliger is a dark mystery that is very character based. It paints a more edgy hardcore mystery than books with double it's word count and sales. This book however deserves the hype. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? please. Dawn is character that doesn't just look out of place in society, she is out of place in the Long Island basement punk rock shows too. A follower of both Trotsky and Crowley, who finds her mentor in communism and magik murdered.

A older man who was friends with her father and had molded her political views and was somewhat of a sexual partner. There is not much to the mystery, but it is written with a brilliant touch. Short, but not sweet. It is both grim and amusing throughout. A fine piece of work.