The Suiting: 25th Anniversary Edition (Horror Novels written as Kelley Wilde Book 1) Kindle Edition

Twenty-five years ago Kelley Wilde wrote "The Suiting," a Stoker-award-winning horror novel that made quite a splash. Now Reb MacRath, the man behind the Kelley Wilde pseudonym, has reissued it in a somewhat revised version. It still packs a terrific punch. You might say it swings a mean - a real mean - bat.As for the story, it is mystical and horrific all at once, engrossing and involving in the same way that Stephen King's work is when King is on his game. The Bouchettes, we learn very early on, are killers with a generational curse that marks one of them for destruction every century. The current Bouchette, Jean-Paul, is a Canadien who likes the good life and who has just bought himself a first-class suit. Before he has a chance to don it, though, he runs into the loan shark whom he owes a sum that he doesn't have. The loan shark now, very literally, wants his money or Bouchette's life.Nebbishy Victor Frankl, an American expatriate stuck in a lower-middle-management job in Toronto, comes into possession of the suit by accident (or is it by fate?) and wants to wear it more than he's ever wanted anything. The suit has been tailor-made for a much more massive man, though, so Frankl begins some alterations - on himself, not the suit. He undertakes a murderous course of body-building and exercise (the intensity of his efforts becomes creepily unnerving). And as he grows into the suit, so something grows within him. He knows a little French from his schooling, but now he inexplicably begins to think in a patois peculiar to Quebec and to act in a much more assertive and much more sinister way. His appearance, his habits, and his life change.The tale barrels along as we see Frankl's transformation, of which he is half-proud and half-afraid. Inevitably, the alterations lead him into conflicts at work and with the erstwhile boyfriend of a girl he comes to covet, an inglorious English bastard if there ever was one. The reader senses that the bully is due for a surprise, and when it comes it is spectacular and messy. Suspense grows, and the book pays off in an explosive climax that speeds like an oncoming train.MacRath has tweaked the narrative a little. If I recall aright, the resolution veers in a somewhat different direction this time, but it's quite in keeping with the original. "The Suiting" is splendidly horrific and--be warned--explicitly gory, but it's a gritty urban novel with an extremely postmodern feel. It is a classic of horror fiction. If it was ahead of its time twenty-five years ago, it's right where it should be today. Read it.

The Suiting was originally published as a Mass Market Paperback in 1989 by TOR books - with a pretty amazing cover. This is one original and scary tale. I have all the Kelley Wilde paperbacks - read them all when they were originally published - great novels - and I certainly hope they are all reissued as e-books. Would love to re-read them - starting now with The Suiting. This is one excellent writer who tells some pretty horrifying tales.

Reb MacRath's The Suiting is a wonderfully horrific read. The story begins with Jean-Paul Bouchette, a man on the run from a loan shark. He leaves his custom suit in a subway locker and, shortly after, is killed. Victor Frankl stumbles upon the suit and takes it. At first it doesn't fit, but Victor becomes obsessed with changing himself to fit into the suit, a very grave decision. He soon finds the suit holds a sinister curse, which has him in its evil claws and will not let go.As a huge fan of Reb's writing, I have fallen in love with his compelling writing style. I was completely mesmerized by descriptions of the fight scenes. They brought ultra vivid mental images to my mind. The watermelon knife scene had me on the edge of my seat! His character development is very thorough. Not only could I read about the impending madness descending on Victor, I literally felt it. Not many writers are able to elicit that kind of response from me. I really enjoyed the French scattered throughout the book. I was able to get the gist of it as I was reading (only because I do have some knowledge of the language). If you don't, the translated phrases are at the end of the book. If you enjoy a gripping horror story, this is the book for you. I highly recommend it! Warning: You will never think of a watermelon knife in the same way ever again!

In 1989, Reb MacRath (writing as Kelley Wilde) proved with haunting clarity the old adage that the clothes make the man when he first published The Suiting. Twenty-five years later, he drives the point home for a new generation of readers in this completely revised and reworked edition. This story reads like Rod Serling's Twilight Zone version of the Charles Atlas tale: Victor Frankl, a timid underdog, has grown tired of being bullied by other men and ignored by women and wants to improve himself. When he stumbles upon a hand-crafted designer suit, he decides to do whatever it takes (go on a diet, improve his posture, even start an exercise program) to fit into the new threads. As he grows closer and closer to fitting the suit, his confidence grows, and he finds himself becoming the kind of man he always wanted to be. Are these changes, though, a result of his improved self-image, or are darker forces at work?I have to admit I had my doubts when I first sat down to read this book. Yes, the idea of a suit possessing someone may seem a bit far-fetched, even for a horror story. However, so does the idea of a sentient car becoming obsessed with its owner, but that didn’t stop Stephen King from writing Christine, one of his most popular novels. Like King, MacRath handles his premise with subtle dexterity, transforming it into a subtle metaphor for our dependence on surface materialism and appearance to create our self-worth, a point just as appropriate today as it was in the 80’s.Fans of the Wilde original will not be disappointed with this new edition. While it has been extensively revised for better consistency and clarity, the story remains the same. Equal parts classic Stephen King and early Clive Barker with the slow-burn pacing of the best Hitchcock films, The Suiting proves that Reb MacRath, best known for his Boss McTavin mysteries, is equally at home in the horror genre. Here's hoping MacRath decides to revisit his other Kelley Wilde novels and bring these classic gems back into print.