Review: SAINTS OF FLESH by Tim W. Burke

Saints of Flesh
$6.99; 202 pages; 2023
ISBN: 978-1-960928-00-9
By Tim W. Burke
NobleFusion Press

“Anger got the best of my trepidation. A speck of cancer lay hiding along Gretchen’s left tibia. No voice came from it; it merely pulsed with malice. I slid into it and squeezed. The other interlopers jeered. I had picked the least of their number. Barely a consciousness.”

—Saints of Flesh

Saints of Flesh by author Tim W. Burke is a gripping sequel novel to 2014’s outstanding The Flesh Sutra (NobleFusion Press). It centers around a character named Gretchen Figgs, struggling with alcoholism and self-loathing, who is also diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Gretchen seeks help from a mysterious figure, Olivia Cormier Spalding, who resides in an old school. Spalding has mummified herself and possesses the ability to project her consciousness; she is also searching—in her case for her lost love, Alecsi—as well as for some stolen keepsakes which are crucial to finding him. The story unfolds as Gretchen, under Spalding’s influence by using her as a vessel while promising to cure her cancer, attempts to retrieve these items, encountering various challenges and mystical elements along the way.

Olivia guides Gretchen through various mystical teachings and helps her develop heightened awareness and abilities as they form a symbiotic relationship, with Gretchen relying on Spalding for healing and Spalding using Gretchen to interact with the physical world. Set against the backdrop of a Southern California city, Gretchen encounters various characters including Marko Kratos, a man involved in the supernatural. Throughout the narrative, themes of anguish, manipulation, and the blurred lines between benefactor and parasite are explored as the story delves into the complexities of human desire and the lengths which some people are willing to go to fulfill them.

Saints of Flesh is rich in imagery and detailed descriptions of the characters’ emotions and experiences, creating a vivid and immersive world; the intricate plot and preternatural elements provide a unique, engaging experience as the book blends fantasy, horror, and the supernatural in its complex exploration of topics which include the eternal search for love, hope, and meaning, the struggle against illness, and the related themes of desperation and loss. The story ends with Gretchen and the narrator still on their quest, leaving readers with a sense of mysteries yet to be revealed. The well-drawn relationship between Gretchen and Spalding, complex and interdependent, highlights the novel’s investigation of power dynamics and the human psyche—resonating with readers long after the book is finished.

Recommended.