Failure by John Everson


Failure by John Everson, Horror Fiction

Raymond is such a failure, he can't even kill himself and get it right. Cindy just plain doesn't care; she'll get on her knees for anyone beneath the football field bleachers to score a nickel bag hit. And Sal is a frustrated goon with a hook nose and an attitude so sour he can't nail a girl even with the lure of free dope and a getaway car.

When these three desperate teens meet Aaron, a failed practitioner of the dark arts who offers them the best high they've ever smoked in exchange for some kinky sexplay inside his pentagram, things can only go from bad to worse. Aaron hopes to ensnare and re-birth the spirit of a late witch, to capture her power from beyond the grave for his own.

Soon, they'll all learn the darkest, bloodiest, most terrifying definition of Failure.
I'm giving this one a 3 1/2 and this is why:
I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher/author/narrator via Audio Book Blast in exchange for an honest review and that's what you're getting.

Failure follows three teens around as they momentously screw up their lives. It’s kind of fun to watch this disaster because, let’s be real, none of them are very nice people. The boys have no respect for girls and the girl has no respect for herself. But I’m not here to judge . . .

Based on the promise of an epic high and some potentially epic sex, the three agree to meet and perform an occult sex ceremony for a kinky old guy who wants to watch (so he says). Even when he whips out the “pain chains” they don’t get suspicious. Nothing bad could possibly go wrong here, right?

The story is written in such a way that I thought it was a sequel. It’s told by the point of view of various characters and it flips back between the days leading up to the ceremony to the present day situation and I was very confused in the beginning. Perhaps that’s due to my listening to the story on audio or perhaps it’s due to my limited brain power? I don’t really know, but it all began to make sense eventually. The narration is great. Joe Hempel sounds appropriately young for the characters, doesn’t give the females a creepy falsetto and he gives the old man the sinister vibe he deserved.

It was quick, brutal and gory but nothing new or groundbreaking. Just some ugly people doing ugly things and getting their comeuppance. It kind of felt like an 80’s throwback with sex crazed teens doing what they do and a plot that felt achingly familiar. Still, I kind of liked that about the book! 3 ½ stars

Buy it @ Amazon or Audible

View all my reviews

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tackling the To Be Read List (1)

Image
I was going to create a little feature where I'd have you vote on my next TBR book because I am still determined to read at least one of them this year but someone else beat me to it. This works perfectly for lazy me because now I can just sign up for Michelle @ Because Reading's meme instead! If you want to join all of the rules are here. I grabbed three random books from the top of the most embarrassing pile. So, what do you think I should read (or attempt to read) next? Let me know in the little poll down below. Also, please feel free to let me know if these are not worth reading! Remember this is the year of the DNF (at least for me!). Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow 3.76 Rating @ Goodreads Jill Kismet. Dealer in Dark Things. Spiritual Exterminator. Demon Slayer. Not everyone can take on the things that go bump in the night. Not everyone tries. But Jill Kismet is not just anyone. She's a Hunter, trained by the best - and in over her hea
Read more

The Bloody Chamber And Other Stories by Angela Carter | Horror Fiction Review

Image
Hmmmm The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter Released January 1979, 162 pgs Source: Bought with my own $ Goodreads  |  Amazon For the 75th anniversary of her birth, a Deluxe Edition of the master of the literary supernatural’s most celebrated book—featuring a new introduction by Kelly Link Angela Carter was a storytelling sorceress, the literary godmother of Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell, Audrey Niffenegger, J. K. Rowling, Kelly Link, and other contemporary masters of supernatural fiction. In her masterpiece, The Bloody Chamber—which includes the story that is the basis of Neil Jordan’s 1984 movie The Company of Wolves—she spins subversively dark and sensual versions of familiar fairy tales and legends like “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Bluebeard,” “Puss in Boots,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” giving them exhilarating new life in a style steeped in the romantic trappings of the gothic tradition. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in
Read more

Got My Eye On (3)

Image
I saw a post over at  Mailbox Monday  that was encouraging readers to share their best finds of the week via their  Books That Caught Our Eye  posts. I love, love, love that idea so this is my warped version of it. Here are the books I've added to my wishlist with credit to my enablers :) Bob @  Beauty In Ruins   Spidermilk by Konrad Hartmann Eddie Stover, private eye, lives in a future where artificial humans called LifeMates serve consumers as a purchasable commodity. When Stover takes a wandering daughter case, the search for the missing woman plunges him into a world of hijacked LifeMates, psychedelic milk, and a bizarre spider-worshiping cult. As the thrall of his old addictions and the enticements of the woman he promised to protect threaten to consume him, Stover is faced with the realization that he cannot escape the choice love forces him to make. (M/F, F/F) ↞   I don't know where Bob finds these weird ass titles but I'm just thankful he does!
Read more