part horror, part science fiction but all gothic, leech is a remarkable first novel by hiron ennes and it's unlike anything i have read previously. part mervyn peake, part lovecraft, part jeff vandermeer, yet strangely unique we find ourselves in the far far out future of what may be earth. 

told from the point of view of a parasite that is collectively known as the institute, and operating as a hive mind the institute is a collection of doctors who serve humanity in order not to be discovered by them. 

after one of it's bodies dies in mysterious circumstances one of it's bodies travels by train from  the academic town of inultus to the remote and frozen northern wasteland of virdira to the gothic mansion of the horrid old baron and his very unlikable family to investigate the discovery of a new parasite, one that killed the original doctor. this one is a mass of black tendrils that has incubated in the barons wheatrock mines. it is moving in on the institutes territory and as the new doctor attempts to stop it he is also undergoing some sort of transformation into the original host body. all this occurs while the castle begins to collapse around them, the family revealing it's ugly nature and strange secrets.

as the reader progresses you are invited into this imaginative world where aliens, humans, strange mythological creatures and maybe mutants all inhabit a landscape of weirdness and eventually the black tendrils, the institute and the barons family are revealed as different forms of parasite.

i love this book, it's so original and yet familiar, incredibly written. each sentence is perfect, a literate treasure chest filled with articulate gemstones. hiron ennes has done the unthinkable, and surprised me.