Order LIFELINE here
I've had an eReader for 4 years or so. It changed the way I run this blog and changed the way I read in general. eReaders are still misunderstood, though. They're not just a technological alternative to paper books, they're an alternative book market that gives a chance to everyone traditional publishing turns their back to. A book like Kit Power's LIFELINE couldn't have existed outside the eBook market. Not only survival horror novellas aren't really a hot thing in traditional publishing (they're hardly ever published), eReaders give you the strange pleasure of witnessing young authors figuring out their voice in front of an audience. I have yet to debate whether it's a good or a bad thing, but it's en enthralling new way of doing that publishing thing.
LIFELINE is the story of one fateful night in Frank's life where he recklessly rode his bike down the wrong hill and into the wrong alley. A stranger smacked him off the bike, broke his arm and dragged him down the basement of his house. Turns out, that guy's completely insane, has committed murder already and is hell-bent on torturing someone to death, just to see what's going to happen. Frank is hurt, bound and doesn't have anything on his side, except that he's late for his shift at work and the stranger forgot to pat him for his cell phone. He has a long night ahead of him and the odds for his survival are not in his favor.
There's good and there's bad about LIFELINE. Kit Power has a strong voice. His protagonist Frank is a personable, music loving, but pathetic loser juggling a precarious domestic situation and a dead end job. It's difficult to make a loser character that doesn't seem too charming and laid back, but Power surfed that line in creating a character you can relate too, but don't necessarily want to be. The storytelling was my major issues with LIFELINE. The concept of Frank finding himself bound, hurt and stranded in some basement in interesting, but there is no real reason for it, no real relationship between him and his torturer. Everything lies in the moment, but Kit Power's prose isn't quite strong enough to carry it without any exposition. LIFELINE is a very ambitious project that doesn't quite live up to its premise.
LIFELINE is a pure product of the eBook era. It's a daring and ambitious project that wouldn't never seen the light of day in traditional publishing. It feels rough around the edges, sure. Unaccomplished to a certain degree. You won't have a closer look at the heart of the creative process, though. Kit Power's voice has such emergency to it, it'll make you feel like he's narrating LIFELINE to you in person, during a public reading or even around a bonfire. Not everybody is going to dig LIFELINE, it's a bit of an acquired taste meant for readers looking for a different experience, something that challenges the ways of traditional publishing both in its content and its execution. It's a new day, guys. The eBook market bred a new kind of authors who don't hide anything from their audience and Kit Power is part of that movement.
