Teen angst reaches a whole new level in Joey Comeau’s new book, One Bloody Thing After Another (ECW Press): wisecracking Jackie, who has a bad temper, a wicked sense of humour, the ability to make herself invisible and a dead mother who shows up at odd times to say “I didn’t mean to wake you, baby,” has a crush on her best friend, Ann. But Ann doesn’t respond, because she’s preoccupied with thoughts of her own mother, who is chained up in the basement where she screams and moans and demands to eat meat (preferably while it’s still alive).

Add to this a sweet old blind dog named Mitchie, who keeps getting caught in corners, and his owner, Charlie, who regularly encounters the ghost of a headless woman in the corridor of the old folks’ home, a litter of new kittens, a roller-coaster ride and several bloody things, and you’ve got a fast-paced, wacky story that you can’t believe you’re still reading, even as you are.

Solitary diners take note: this isn’t the book to prop open while you chow down on a nice juicy steak.