Action horror” can be considered its own subgenre, one with distinct scenarios and tropes. A recurring setup involves characters trapped in a confined area, forced to fight amongst themselves to escape. In movie form, this might be “Escape from New York” (and “L.A.”), “Battle Royale”, and “The Warriors.”

“Black Friday” has a lot of fun with this premise. We follow the experiences of several characters pulled from quotidian life to fight it out in an abandoned shopping mall, all at the demands of a mega-rich “evil Mr. Beast” style youtube influencer.

The book is true to its exploitation-film roots; there’s plenty of gore, fighting, violence, etc., which I loved. But it’s not merely that, there’s plenty of characterization and plot.

In the beginning, many of the players are approached by a British guy who lures them into the game with the promise of cash. My only complaint would be these vignettes got a little repetitive. Once I saw these scenes a couple of times, I got the gist.

The book is begging for a sequel, and judging from the epilogue, that is a possibility.

“Black Friday” has one of the better metaphors I’ve ever seen: “…as if a razor blade was being drawn across a cello string in front of a bullhorn.”