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Topic: Succulent Prey, by Wrath James White (Read 749 times) |
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Succulent Prey, by Wrath James White
« 10/01/06 at 5:38pm » |
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Could serial killers be the victims of a communicable disease? Could it be the same virus that spawned the vampire and werewolf legends? Could it be cured?
Fifteen years ago Joseph Miles was attacked by a serial child murderer with an appetite for human blood. He was the only victim to have escaped alive. Now he is a tall, handsome, intelligent, well-built Psychology student who is slowly turning into a murderer. He believes that the man who attacked him as a child passed a virus on to him that is changing him into a serial killer and if he doesn’t find a cure the woman he loves will soon become his next victim, the woman who is now locked up in his apartment chained to his bed.
Fast-paced, disturbingly erotic, hardcore horror at its most extreme.
After abandoning White’s Book of A Thousand Sins, I decided I was shirking my duties as a reviewer and gleefully accepted his latest release. It was time to face my fears. I mean, so what White’s fiction has been rumored to be so heinous and despicable that only a madman would read them. I could do it. I, people, am a strong female with an iron stomach…or so I thought. Welcome, one and all, to the first and last review that I will ever do for Wrath James White.
There is a thin line between love and hate, and White did the robot all over it! I’m not a big fan of extreme horror. I know that, you know that, and as soon as this review is seen – so will Wrath James White. But what I do enjoy is original storylines with good characters. See the dilemma?
To say the plot is repugnant is like saying The Rolling Stones are aged. This story is so abhorrent, so revolting, that I had to actually leave the book and my house several times to distance myself from it. There are some things one should never learn, such as: how a serial killer thinks, what gets him off and brings him to orgasm, and how to cook a human being. In fact, relapsed catholic girl that I am, I discovered that I remembered every prayer I had learned in school, and I said them all for White. Here’s hoping, for all of you, that it helped!
You know that old saying, “Write what you know”? I know, I shuddered, too. Pulling off what I can only hope is a magnificent talent, White manages not only to climb into the mind of a serial killer, but can mimic his every movement. A sexual sadist, a traumatized boy, a lost cause -- Joseph Miles is perhaps one of the most memorable characters I have ever read. And it’s not because of his actions throughout the book or his scarred past, but because he’s real. His rationale, his torture, his hunger was completely believable. His tale, though stretched to the limit, has been told more times than any person would like to acknowledge. And his outcome, their outcome, will haunt us all.
With evident research performed and studied, White’s style is a bit unusual for me. Though I was granted a glimpse here and there of the author, for the most part White’s style of writing is removed and related from an observatory point of view. It’s clinical, matter of fact and lacks any emotion. I didn’t like it. Maybe it’s because I’d like to hope the author felt…something, anything, when he wrote it. But if he did, it didn’t show.
And what didn’t help, or perhaps it did, was the speed of the book. Calculated and intentional, the pace moves like it has a mind of its own. In fact, coupled with an atmosphere that is so palpable you could taste each character’s fear, this book feels sacrilegious. Everything about it, down to the cover, feels wrong. And with every turn of the page you feel yourself becoming more contaminated. And by the end you’ll be begging for a scalding hot shower and a priest.
My rating? I give it a 4. I promise you this: the constant barrage of gore, sexual deviancy, and madness will wear you down, weigh on you, and eventually overcome you. Think you can handle it? I double dog dare you to try! Grab it today!
For Cranky:
Succulent Prey
Wrath James White
Bloodletting Press
Trade Paperback
235 pages
$16.95
Posted by: BloodyMary
Reanimated Reader
Zombie Posts: 188
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