The Sentimental Vessel

di Steven E Hall (Autore)

Steven Hall, 2025

Synopsis Arthur Finch is a man shattered by the dissolution of his twenty-two-year marriage. Surrounded by the physical remnants of a shared life he can no longer bear, he makes a desperate choice. He submits to the "Clean Break" procedure, an experimental treatment marketed as a revolutionary cure for heartbreak, promising to surgically sever emotional ties to the past. The treatment initially works. The crushing weight of his grief vanishes, replaced by a sterile calm. But this relief is short-lived. Arthur soon discovers the procedure's catastrophic side effect: any sentimental object he tries to discard begins to physically integrate into his own body. The wicker of a picnic basket weaves itself into the skin of his back. The pattern of his wedding bedsheets etches permanently onto his legs. A splinter from a beloved walnut record player transforms his forearm into grained wood. He is becoming an "Amalgamated"—a living reliquary of his own discarded past, a Sentimental Vessel. When he confronts the charismatic and amoral Dr. Aris Thorne, Arthur learns this is not a mistake, but the process working as intended. Thorne views these transformations as a successful "somatic resolution" of grief and maintains a hidden Repository where fully transformed individuals are kept as still, silent exhibits. Teaming up with other Amalgamated victims found on the dark web—each suffering their own horrific transformations—Arthur races against his own accelerating metamorphosis. His mission: to infiltrate Thorne's Repository, gather evidence of this atrocity, and expose it to the world. In a final, desperate act, Arthur and his allies stage a raid on the Repository, securing damning footage and rescuing a partially transformed victim. The cost is high, with one of his companions captured and fully transfigured before his eyes. Arthur brings this living evidence to the only person he believes might still see the man within the monster: his ex-wife, Clara.

• Autore: Steven E Hall
• Anno edizione: 2025
• Editore: Steven Hall
• Formato: EPUB2 con DRMFREE
• Lingua: Inglese
• Compatibilità: Tutti i dispositivi (eccetto Kindle)
• Layout: Reflowable
• EAN: 9798232767822