Death Watch is a fascinating commentary on the societal schisms that spring forth for the silliest of reasons with the most disastrous circumstances. Stona Fitch writes a clever narrative that pulls you in with the first-person POV immersive experience.
You’re put in the shoes of an ad-campaign manager, Coe Vessel, who is tasked with promoting an eccentric provocateur’s latest creation; a watch that has the ability to kill its wearer. Desperate to land the lucrative contract, Coe and his team market the watch as the must-have modern accessory that serves to both embrace the fashion-wealth statement of the capitalist world as well as a rebuttal against its fast-paced nature. What’s thought of as a nifty marketing trick to attract sales ends up actually killing whoever wears the watch. What’s worse, is that Coe has the first ever death watch on his wrist too.
Stona Fitch presents a satirical and dark horror narrative that extends beyond the reading experience to make you think deeply about the society that now prevails, dominating our mindsets and choices with all that we do. Fitch’s clever approach of using a first person POV helps with actively pondering over the all-consuming nature of the amalgamation of the capitalistic and artistic world we’ve come to be in. It’s a rather unsettling experience when the narrative starts to feel like something you are personally experiencing.
Death Watch is an exciting high-stakes concept with a cautionary tone that carries palpable tension amplified by the plight of the characters so closely aligned with our own culture. It reads like a fast-paced thriller and yet it doesn’t just fall into that purview but rather utilizes the high-octane power of a well-crafted and suspenseful thriller to convey timely subliminal messages for readers to understand and in the best case, work towards the prevention of such pervasion.
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Purchase Death Watch
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Barrington Books
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