Eutopia: A Novel Of Terrible Optimism [Paperback]

I'm not the best judge of horror, but I've read Lovecraft, Poe, King, and good writing is good writing regardless of genre. And there's plenty of good writing in David Nickle's "Eutopia."

"Eutopia" is set in the early 20th century and explores the world of American utopian movements, and the almost instantly corruptible science of Eugenics, how easily our desires for a utopian society can be exploited and corrupted no matter how idealistic the original intent.

The story is told from the point of view of two protagonists. The first is Dr. Andrew Waggoner a negro doctor in the frontier town of Eliada, Idaho in 1911. Eliada is a town set up by idealistic and charismatic leader Garrison Harper, a city that he's built out of the wilderness on the principles of Compassion, Community, and Hygiene. As we meet Waggoner he's about to be lynched by the local Ku Klux Klan. But first they hang a mysterious figure known as "Mr. Juke" for the rape and murder of a young woman. As Juke is being hanged, Waggoner has a vision of Juke either being a monster or beautiful. Just as the Klan is about to lynch Waggoner he's rescued by Sam Green, one of the Pinkerton men hired by Harper. As Waggoner recuperates in Eliada's hospital he learns "Mr. Juke" had survived hanging, although Waggoner doesn't see how that is possible. But there isn't time for Waggoner to investigate as a plot is discovered that the Klan wants to finish their job on Dr. Waggoner.

The second protagonist is Jason Thistledown, a lad of sixteen whose mother has died of disease. He discovers the rest of the town has been killed by the disease and, he's the sole survivor. As Jason waits out the winter on the farm and is unsure about what to do with his mother's body his previously unknown Aunt Germaine appears. Aunt Germaine is on her way to Eliada having recently been in New York gathering Eugenics information in prisons. After Jason and Aunt Germaine arrive in Eliada her motives for bringing Jason there become suspect as she allows Jason to be put overnight in "quarantine" with "Mr. Juke" and the secret that town harbors reveals itself and spreads throughout the populace.

At first I had a difficult time figuring out what, if any genre "Eutopia" fell into. Was it going to be a novel with a science fiction twist? Steampunk? Or something else entirely? Nickle takes his time setting everything up, and soon, "Eutopia" revealed itself to be of the horror genre. Nickle lets the novel reveal itself through the characters and the events that befall them. The narrative moves with a Lovecraftian twist, a little Greek mythology and hillbilly lore thrown in. Nickle lays out these strings and neatly weaves them into the thread of his story and keeps the tension going and the reader wanting to see what will happen next. Set in the early 20th century, Nickle has the voice of the people and the manner of the times down.

The horror is more implicit than explicit, there's no big 'reveal' scene where a monstrous nightmare vision is thrown at the reader for shock or a visceral reaction. Nickle sets the tone at early 20th century creepy. The tone is more of a pins under your skin feeling, or the feeling of a spider walking across your hand, that keeps you in a state of ecstatic uncomfortableness. The closer I got towards the end, the more it kept me reading to see how this could possibly be resolved. What higher praise or expectations can you have for a book?

Eutopia is divided into two parts: nurture and nature. The first section (nurture) sets up what appears to be a terrific horror story, one with dynamic characters, a strong sense of place, and a variety of interesting but disquieting conflicts. The second section veers a bit off track with plot developments that are more silly than horrific, yet the story held my attention even when I was questioning its premise.

The setup creates the perfect atmosphere for a horror novel. Set in the fictional town of Eliada, Idaho, Eutopia begins in 1911 with the attempted hanging of Juke, a person (or perhaps a thing) with intensely black eyes. Juke survives the noose and Eliada's private police arrive in time to save Dr. Andrew Waggoner, the only black physician at Eliada Hospital, from the second half of the intended double lynching. The hangmen are wearing KKK garb and at least one is the brother of Maryanne Leonard, a seemingly deranged patient who died while Waggoner was trying to save her from injuries that apparently resulted from a botched outhouse abortion.

Joining the population of Eliada are Jason Thistledown, the only survivor of a mysterious epidemic that wiped out the town of Cracked Wheel, and Germaine Frost, a gatherer of information for the Eugenics Records Office. Jason and Waggoner soon discover that Maryanne isn't the only woman who suffered a grizzly death in the vicinity of Eliada. The other victims had similar injuries, but not all of them were pregnant.

Eliada's founder is Garrison Harper. His intent was to create a "stern Paradise," a "community devoid of strife and class warfare where men happily lifted their tools at sunrise and set them down again at sunset, not once tempted by Bolshevism or bad morals" -- in short, a 1911 version of Utopia. All the residents share common traits: the men are tall and strong, the women are "lean and comely," and none seem to suffer from a physical or mental infirmity. In contrast to Eliada's residents, many of those who live in the nearby woods are far from prime specimens of humanity. Neither is Juke, who lives in the hospital's quarantine building. Juke is a project of Dr Bergstrom, who claims Juke is "beset by idiocy and infirmity. And certain -- irregularities in his anatomy." And then there are the mysterious Feegers, who seem to linger in the woods while worshipping ... something.

David Nickle's weaving of two real world horrors -- eugenics and racism -- into the novel's twin mysteries (the deaths near Eliada and the epidemic in Cracked Wheel) is ingenious. Nickle's writing style is at least a step above the ordinary. His prose is efficient; Nickle uses a few carefully selected words to set scenes that some writers would have wasted pages developing, a skill that allows the story to develop at a brisk pace. The mood and atmosphere are perfect for a tale of the supernatural. Nickle's writing, and particularly the sense of characters rooted to a particular place and time, reminded me of Joe Lansdale.

Much of the time, Eutopia has the feel of a conspiracy thriller: characters don't immediately realize they are in danger, and when they do, they don't understand why; puzzling out the "why" is the key to their survival. The nature of the threat is revealed about halfway through the novel, and (unfortunately) the story loses some of its zest at that point. The explanation (and the abilities manifested by Juke and his ilk) struck me as a little too silly to be truly chilling. In fact, the book might have been better without the supernatural element, although it probably wouldn't qualify as a horror novel at that point. Still, my dissatisfaction with the Juke/Feeger aspect of the plot didn't stop me from following the story to its surprising (and satisfying) conclusion. Nickle's strong writing and the carefully fashioned characters are reason enough to read and enjoy this novel.

Eutopia is a great read. It works as science fiction, horror and an historical novel set in the early 1900s America. I read it at a single sitting - couldn't put it down - and I've been thinking about the plot ever since, playing it over in my mind, seeing how the elements work together.

It's centered on the early Eugenics movement, and the terrible optimism of scientists and social reformers who thought they could create a better humanity. Eugenics sought to be hyper-rational, in line with the new scientific age and unfettered by old-fashioned sentimentality. It was a sort of religion that was suitable to modern times. But who was this religion really serving? That's where the horror comes in.

I highly recommend this novel.