By Daniel Vlasaty

Savage Town is the book that I have been anticipating most this year. Which is kind of funny when you think about it, mainly because I had no fucking idea what the thing was about before I started reading it. I was mainly excited about it because Declan Shalvey's name was attached to it and as a writer no less. But also it was the name – Savage Town's a great title – and the cover. I mean look at that cover. It's a beautiful fucking thing. It’s a cover that doesn't give one single thing about the book away, but it's also a cover that – for me, at least – leads me to want to know what the book's about. I've said this before in a past review: we're told not to judge books by their cover, but the truth is that we do. I know I definitely judge books by their covers (and I know that the saying is more about people than it is about book, but just run with me here). And this one got me all kinds of excited.