THE VACATION FROM HELL
When Milla Carter’s boyfriend Franklyn offers to take her away for a well deserved break, their “dream holiday” turns into the kind of nightmare that makes the shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho look like a minor bath time mishap. The travel agent may have promised them sun kissed beaches, crystal clear seas and a five-star villa but he “forgot” to mention that violence and voyeurism were also part of the deal. Maybe they should have checked the small print in the contract! The story of the vacation from hell is the basis behind Body Holiday, the powerful debut science-fiction novel by British author Derek E Pearson. This imaginative book has a “shoot from the hip” style that grabs the attention from the start thanks to some strident, hard hitting prose and an overwhelming sense of immediacy. It’s also sexually and verbally explicit with enough profanities to fill the pages of a pornographer’s lexicon – but don’t let that put you off!
The brain stretching concepts in each chapter provide a fascinatingly chilling vision of a future that is out of control. Privacy is non-existent, voyeurism is an everyday occurrence, violence is disturbingly casual, while hard core pornography is light entertainment for the masses. One of the few saving graces in this dystopian hotchpotch is a refusal to condone murder – with the odd exception! It’s an ugliness that Milla is obliged to confront in her job as a consultant to the Serious Crime Squad, although a telepathic ability to anticipate danger before it happens keeps her safe. Her unique gift comes in handy when she takes on a cold-blooded serial killer who, in a one-sided fight, is brought to the ground with a few strategically placed stiletto heeled kicks. No wonder Milla and Franklyn need some time out, although they’re not the only ones itching for a break.
62-year-old ex-glamour model Ruth (who looks 30) and 86-year-old Pearce, her fabulously rich husband (who looks 50), also want to recharge their batteries although in their case the need is more pressing. Despite their wealth and good looks, Ruth and Pearce are pensioners battling to keep old age at bay. One of the most poignant symbols of their fight against decrepitude is the “death” of Ruth’s mechanical horse, which gives out on her during a riding session. She can only watch helplessly as “a barely perceptible plume of whitish vapour” bleeds from the flared nostrils of the animal she has owned since it was young. As it crashes to the floor in an ungainly metallic heap, Ruth can’t help but draw a bitter parallel between herself and a creature that is “a broken, wretched old has been.” When her husband’s assistant offers to find her a replacement she doesn’t hesitate to put a rueful twist on the suggestion: “Why don’t you get me a new body while you’re at it?”
For Ruth and Pierce swapping bodies and lifestyles with Mila and Franklyn via a process called Transition, is too good an opportunity to pass up. Who wouldn’t seize the chance to exchange the physical burdens of old age for the energy of youth? What could possibly go wrong? In this case everything. Before they know it both couples are fighting for their lives against a malevolent force with a knack for pre-empting their every move. Can Mila/Franklyn/Ruth/Pearce work their way out of the danger, or are they destined to spend the rest of their lives trapped in each other’s bodies and looking over their shoulders?
Body Holiday is a challenging read because of the brilliance of its central idea and the questions that arise from it. Although the technology to switch one body into another doesn’t yet exist, that might not be the case further down the line. Could humanity be trusted to use the machinery responsibly if/when it becomes available? Should there be restrictions on who could access it, or would it be exclusive to the super rich? What guardrails would be needed to ensure it wasn’t abused?
There are many other questions arising from Pearson’s splendidly paced narrative and he avoids the trap of trying to answer them. His job is to entertain and keep the reader engaged, which he does with the help of some snappily written dialogue and totally believable characters. It’s impossible not to care about them as they fight against ever rising odds in their battle to stay alive. Throughout their ordeal it is the beautiful, resourceful Milla who emerges as the light of integrity against the enfolding darkness. Even when a clever plot twist exposes a horrific betrayal, she never loses the basic decency the outside world denigrates.
It isn’t difficult to understand why Body Holiday has earned Derek E Pearson a cult following among sci-fi enthusiasts. His imagination overflows with vivid descriptive prose that burns itself into the memory, while deliciously timed flashes of gallows humour lightens the tension that tears across each page. Pearson isn’t afraid to raise questions about society’s relationship with technology, or its potential to undermine the basic decencies humanity is supposed to cherish. Similarly, he forces us to question the morality of a culture which devalues people and exploits their insecurities for money.
It all adds up to a smart literary package that entertains while encouraging readers to think about the kind of future our children risk inheriting.
Reviewed by Juliette Foster
Why not add a copy of Shadow Players and A Time to Prey, the second and third books in the Body Holiday trilogy, to your Derek E Pearson collection? Click on the covers to find out more about other books written by the author. Watch a video of the author in conversation with Read2Write’s Juliette Foster. Click the link if you’d like to hear Derek E Pearson read an excerpt from his novel Slave Skin
