A deep-dive character study of a roughneck outsider and his serial attempts to find his place in a fickle world. As Jacquin Sanders’ (1922–2001) first novel begins, Bat Fidler drifts into a traveling carnival and takes a job as a wrestler. His size and build make him a natural for a rousing performance in his predetermined bouts with Frankie Peranzo, his rowdy opponent.
As Bat tries to find a niche in his new home, he hooks up with Emmy Claus, a pretty young stripper with few inhibitions and fewer morals. Their relationship-of-convenience places Bat near the Fish Girl, for whom he is struck with an inexplicable fascination upon first sight.
“She was wearing a yellow sun-suit, and her body was nearly perfect. She had smooth, slender legs; her back was slim and straight, her waist small. Her breasts were full and high, curving beautifully into rounded, shapely shoulders where heartbreakingly the symmetry stopped. Her arms and hands were tiny, babylike, they had not developed with the rest of her body. They were as soft and short and minutely formed as those of a two-year-old child.”
It’s an enigma. Bat is both drawn to, and repelled by, the Fish Girl. Attempting to dissuade his fixation, Bat cozies up to Emmy, going as far as contemplating marriage. But when Emmy’s lust for partying surfaces, Bat is drawn into a deadly battle with a pseudo-rival and ends up facing a murder rap.
The trial and his subsequent prison bit thrust him into another world, where he again attempts to find his place. The confinement triggers a change that only plays out after his release, when he again wrestles with conformity versus identity—external versus internal accord.
Freak Show is a beguiling plot of deceit, murder, and lust. Its story is an exploration of desire and attraction through the mind of a rugged outsider with little understanding of his true self or how to access it.
Freak Show is Black Gat Book No. 54, released on January 12, 2024. ARC provided by Stark House Press in exchange for an independent review.
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