Book Review – Let Slip The Beasts by Suzanne Berget

When H.G. Wells wrote The Island of Dr. Moreau back in 1896, it was considered scandalous. A sharp stick in the eye of God followed by swift kick to His nuts. It was, in many ways, an exploration of what it really means to be human and only in later years was its true genius discovered, put on display, and paraded around like furry bread and circuses. Blasphemous though it might have been, it paled in comparison to seeing Marlon Brando chewing the scenery in the ’99 movie.

Since the release of the dear doctor’s island and its nascent furry fetish, plenty of other people have taken up the reins – no pun intended – and looked at what it would mean to start turning humans into animals. Franz Kafka, I’m looking at you. Because the thing about Wells’ work is he kind of just let it lie there like a bored hooker. Turning people into animals was shocking in 1896. Now we see it every Black Friday here in the States. So, what would it all mean? What if we could take elements from animals and use them? The strength of the great apes, the wisdom of the dolphins, the ability to creep people the heck out like spiders?

These are questions that a handful of sci-fi authors have dealt with in the past, albeit more on the horror side of the house than the sci-fi side of the house. Of course, the erotica folks took the idea and ran with it, but dino-sex and bigfoot sex and werewolf sex are far from an exploration of the underpinnings of humanity. Those things are just exploring humans having sex with everything that moves. Not judging here, let your freak flag fly.

So, along comes Suzanne Berget, who decides to create a Moreau-esque critter of her own. Berget pulls from some of the classics – The Island of Dr. Moreau and Bladerunner spring to mind – and adds her own twists and turns. Unlike a lot of authors who find inspiration in simply copying the existing works, Berget uses those ideas as springboards for her own ideas. Now, it’s been said that there’s nothing new under the sun so building off something else is not a problem in my mind. Hell, I’ve got my own book that’s an unholy marriage of Cthulhu and Tron, so I’m not really in a position to criticize. Even more importantly, Berget didn’t just crib those stories, change a few names, and call it her own work. She used some basic ideas – human beasts and out-of-control corporations – and built her own unique tale.

That’s not an easy thing to do, but Berget pulls it off with some aplomb and what we get is more than the sum of two stories separated by nearly 100 years. Instead, we get some great characters, some seriously nerve-wracking scenes, more than a few teeth, and a hefty dose of moral ambiguity on the part of both the supposed good guys and the supposed bad guys. In other words, we get a story that feels real.

And to think, this is her first book. It’ll be fascinating to see where Berget goes as an author in the future if she continues to let her imagination run free.

“Beneath the streets of East Resplendent, monsters are mounting a war against their masters.
Kaliope Dearborne, a customer service nobody for a pharmaceutical mega-conglomerate, wants only to escape her cubicle and find true meaning for her life. But after accidentally killing her little sister’s bully, she’s taken captive by The Warren, a ragtag group of runaway medical test subjects.
Kaliope learns that she and her captors are experiments owned by the VyroGen corporation. Locked away and evolving, pieces of her slough off as she grows stronger, faster, and hungrier. Only Thresher—not quite man, not quite animal—keeps her from losing her grip on reality.
When Kaliope discovers the hidden truth of her genetic code, she joins The Warren in the war against VyroGen. With chemistry-altering pheromones and brain-tampering, she’s converted into a sleeper agent. But deep inside the dark heart of the corporation, Kaliope finds something that drastically changes her role in the war. She might win back her memories, her body, and her life, but will Kaliope lose her humanity in the process?”

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