In a way, I was a fan of Wrath James White before I read any of his work. He’s been interviewed twice on Brian Keene’s podcast The Horror Show, and I’ve listened to both those episodes multiple times. An extreme horror author, recovered sex addict, performance artist and former professional kickboxer who spent his formative years slugging it out with neo-Nazi boneheads on the streets of Philadelphia, it’s easy to see why he caught my attention. And given that it’s the 31 Days of Horror, I thought I’d finally read one of his books and tell all ten of my loyal readers what I thought of it.
White has described Skins as his most personal book, and it certainly contains a lot of material that’s directly autobiographical. The protagonist, Mack, is clearly meant to be White (six foot five, black, hard as fuck) and there are several moments in the book that are word-for-word the same as stories White has told about his youth - obviously though, being an extreme horror author, White dials up the consequences of the situation the characters find themselves in.
Set in the hardcore scene of the eighties (I’m on board already), the story begins with Mack seeing a girl he is in love with beaten into a coma during a fight with far-right skins at a gig. The shock and rage of this incident drives him throughout the rest of the book, which switches between the perspectives of Mack and his best friend Demon, and the three young neo-Nazis who are the antagonists. The two groups come into each other’s orbits, and things quickly spiral out of control, culminating in a deadly confrontation between hardcore kids and boneheads. I won’t spoil the ending for you, as it took me by surprise and worked largely because of that, but there is that atmosphere that I love in a story, of characters being drawn towards disaster by forces they are powerless to resist.
First, I’ll go over what doesn’t work about the book. The prose is clunky at times, and never really rises above the level of functionality, although there are some great lines of dialogue (at one point, the girlfriend of one of the skins says to him, “Why can’t you just join the Republican party, like every other racist?” Not so funny out of context, but coming across that line unexpectedly made me chuckle on the bus).
The second thing isn’t so much a criticism as a statement - this isn’t a horror novel. It’s more like a thriller, with moments of graphic violence. Nothing in the book seems designed to scare the reader, but rather to draw them in to the twists and turns of the story, keeping them turning the page to find out what happens next. The thrill of the story isn’t in being afraid or disturbed, but in watching the momentum of the characters carry them into more and more trouble. Nor is it that extreme. There are two scenes where the skins’ hate crimes are shown in grisly detail, and those two scenes definitely go beyond what you’d expect in a Lee Child novel, but not by all that much. Don't get me wrong, it’s pretty gruesome, but from what little extreme horror I’ve read I was expecting more. Still, neither of those things are intended as criticisms - I’m just letting you know that if you’re used to Jack Ketchum you’ll find little to shock you here. Skip the rest of this section if you want to avoid a very minor, very early spoiler.
The last thing I want to discuss in this section is the character of Miranda. She’s brought in in the first scene as this impossibly sexy, tough, somewhat aloof girl who somehow intimidates the supremely confident Mack - we want to get to know her, she seems like she’ll be a great character. Then a fight breaks out and she ends up in a coma.
I think I can see why White does this. We don't care about Miranda yet - we can’t after so short a time - but we’re interested in her, and we want to see more of her. That way, it does carry some impact when she gets hurt. That works to an extent, but mainly it just feels like White has introduced a female character and established a connection between her and the main character, so that he can use her as a prop. I see it in films all the time - women who are there to get hurt, so that their suffering can motivate the hero. Regardless of White’s intentions, it feels like a cheap trick.
That’s that for what I didn’t like about Skins - now on to what I did. First of all, Wrath James White knows how to write a page-turner. When I was reading the opening page, I wasn’t sure if I’d even finish the book (bad prose puts me off more quickly than anything else), then the next thing I knew I was fifty pages in, and didn’t want to stop to go to bed. Skins is gripping and well-paced, with a plot that holds your attention like a bear trap.
Secondly, Mack’s mum is a great character. Clearly based on White’s own mother (listen to the longer Brian Keene interview) she’s intelligent, strong, believably flawed, and her conversations with her son give Mack some character development the lack of which would have seriously damaged the novel. Mack’s interactions with her give White an opportunity to flesh his protagonist out a little, showing us something of his dreams for the future, highlighting what he stands to lose if things go wrong, and also making an otherwise somewhat overpowered character seem vulnerable (in White’s defence, Mack is based on him, and he’s an overpowered human). Mack isn’t just some anti-fascist badass out of an action film - he wants to go to university; he worries about what will happen to Demon when he isn’t around; he cares about his mum, and wonders what she sees in her current boyfriend. We learn most of this through scenes of his home life. Another great thing about Mack’s mum is that the scenes with her let White slow things down for a moment. You can’t have a novel of non-stop action without hitting a point of diminishing returns - that’s why almost all great action films have a moment when the hero goes to ground, and has to take time to nurse his wounds and prepare for the final act of the film. We need some contrast from our art.
Finally, I really like how White doesn’t just have cardboard cutout Nazis as his villains. The three boneheads that provide the main opposition to Mack and Demon are fully fleshed-out people. We see what their home lives are like; we meet their friends and families; we get inside their heads, and catch a glimpse of what led them down this path. These are bad people, but they became that way for a reason. Unlike other writers who attempt to write about fascism (whoever scripted that godawful Fantastic Beasts sequel, for example), Wrath James White knows how fascism works, and can create characters who could believably be drawn into that world.
Basically, this is pulp, but it’s damn good pulp. Give it a read, but don’t expect to be scared.
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