Patrick McGrath
Review by Malcolm Forbes
Patrick McGrath’s 1989 debut novel The Grotesque heralded the arrival of a true master of the macabre. Set in a mouldering English manor and revolving around the misfortunes of a family and the machinations of their butler, the book was a slim yet immensely satisfying slice of modern gothic fiction. It delivered shocks through murder, blackmail and a mysterious disappearance, but also elicited laughter in the dark.
Since then, McGrath has continued to produce novels which plunge his reader into chilly hells. His protagonists include psychiatrists (Asylum, Trauma) or psychiatric patients (Spider) afflicted by past horrors or grappling with present obsessions. Some pose a risk to others, most are a danger to themselves. Each book’s narrative is propelled by astute character dynamics and expertly calibrated levels of suspense.