GR Cleanup Read in May 2011

Roger is home from college on break and plans to kick back with his best bud Tooth, drink some beer, shoot some cans and smoke a little dope. They head out to an unnamed backwoods town in New Hampshire to shoot without being disturbed and end up captives of a madman Roger calls “Skinny Man” and his bloodthirsty dog. Being a NH native myself, and being far too close to a town where a real life horrendous slaughter recently occurred, this setting scared the pee-pee out of me. I could see that run down house in the middle of nowhere (where no one will hear you scream) far too clearly. I will never again venture out into the woods without two big dogs by my side. Why did no one mention this mayhem happens in NH?!

This book is hardcore, very much torture-porn and not for the squeamish. It’s bleak, dark and squishy but the worst thing about it is the fact that the characters are written exceptionally well for a book of this sort. They start out as two toss-away goofy guys. Roger is the brighter bulb of the two while Tooth is mostly a laze-about heading nowhere fast but as the story progresses they become so real that you nearly feel their physical and emotional pain and experience their desperation to survive, to fight and to get the hell out of the mess they’ve found themselves in. It’s a tense, stomach churning read filled to the brim with cruelty and unimaginable horror. If you’re up for it, I’d say give it a read. It was impossible to put down, well written and though I won’t ever read it again I will check out whatever this guy decides to write in the future.

Testing post as I fix the mess that I have made out of my blog. Please ignore. 

 Important Disclaimer:

I figured it was time to come clean. This is the guy who ghost writes my reviews. Don't let his goofy looks deceive you, he is slightly smarter than he appears but his taste in books is questionable and he DNF's all the time because he's kind of full of himself and thinks he has better things to do than read lousy books. If you don't like something he writes, I don't recommend sneaking up on him unawares to give him a talking-to because he may eat your face off. He's a little nutzo. You can, however, try bribing him with treats to put him in a better mood. It's likely he'll only eat the treats and leave you with a slobbery hand. In that case, be thankful you still have the hand and slowly back away. 

Occasionally this one steps up and writes a little something. If you feel compelled to send some shade his way don't expect an answer. He's kind of a dick, if truth be told. But a lovable dick, no?

Seriously though, I am just one lowly reader and all reviews are based purely on whim, fancy and my mood. They are 100% my honest and personal opinion. Hey, you get what pay for around here.

I get most of my books from my tbr pile, Netgalley and Horror After Dark. I comment on books for Horror After Dark , Goodreads, Amazon, Leafmarks and for fun here on Booklikes. I don't take my reviews too seriously and hope you don't either. Feel free to follow me if you enjoy talking books as much as I do. I am NOT taking book review submissions because my tbr pile is frightful. The only exception I will make are audiobooks. I can burn through audios very quickly so please feel free to PM about those but only if they're romance or horror related.

And if you've read all of that, I shall torture you now with a real picture of the actual person who writes these things. I have pets, kids and a job. I practice yoga and try to read as many books as I can, whenever I can sneak it in. My free time and my hard-earned money is precious so you will always hear the truth from me. Happy reading everyone!

it's FREE as of today 9/26/14. Grab it at your own peril!

Part of the "banged by famous monsters series" (these not so famous ones may appear at a later date, perhaps? I guess we can only hold out hope because I'd love to read a story about the  Ahuizotl what with its handy dandy "murder hand"or the Mongolian Death Worm! ) this ebook contains 27 fetish filled pages sure to permanently and forever shut down any romantic longings you may secretly be harboring for werewolves. Or not . . . Who am I to say?

This is a weird one and features an interesting take on silencing an annoying husband. It's bloody and messy and mixes sex and gore and lactation (yeah, really) in a ridiculously over the top manner. If this is your idea of sexy get yourself a copy. I won't judge.

If you happen to pick this up, say purely for curiosity's sake as I did, and you happen to like it a little bit, well you have no one to blame but yourself!

There must be something twisted in me because I can’t seem to resist reading these true life accounts of couples who go on killing sprees, even though they always leave me feeling drained, depressed and slightly sick to my stomach. I guess it’s my nosiness. I always wonder how someone is able to commit such awful crimes against another human for the simple thrill of it. And when there are two of them working together? It just seems so much worse. How did they meet and how did it get so out of control? These questions plague me even though know there is no sane answer. Some people are just demented and not fit to be roaming around in society. I just hope one never moves next door to me.

This account of the murder spree of Gerald Gallegos and his wife Charlene Williams, though horrible and unfathomable, wasn’t nearly as detailed or atrocious as the Fred and Rose story (thank the goddess because those two were Vile). Author R. Barri Flowers states the facts, adding in some obvious dialogue embellishments to make the story flow but he doesn’t linger on the gruesome details. Gerald was a sick perv of the highest order who could only get off by taking women (some very young women) by force. To make her man happy and avoid a beating; Charlene lured many innocent victims, one as young as thirteen, into the hands of Gerald who raped them, murdered them and tossed them away like so much trash. The murders are told mainly from Charlene’s POV as she drove the van and looked the other way while Gerald was taking care of his “sex slaves”. I am thankful I didn’t have to witness all of this through Gerald’s sickening point of view.

This audiobook is read by Barbara Whitesides who reads the facts of the case with a strong, detached, news reporter voice that worked well but when she is reading Gerald’s parts she drops the detachment and puts on a gruff, extremely off-putting voice that hurt my ears because it felt too forced. I’m not afraid to admit that it scared me at times and made me jump out of my skin more than once. This audio is not for the faint of heart.

Flowers gives some backstory about Gerald, who was seemingly doomed for a prison cell from the start and Charlene who was a pretty, smart young woman with a wild streak and a love of sex, drugs and dysfunctional relationships. She and Gerald together were a toxic mix of co-dependence and twisted loyalty that I will never be able to wrap my head around. The account bounces back and forth between the prosecutor’s case and the murder spree. It can be a little jarring if you’re not listening closely but there’s nothing a quick rewind won’t clear up.

These two are depraved and in the end there is no excuse that I’m buying for Charlene’s participation in the whole thing. She was weak and pathetic and gives all women a bad name. Lots of reviews say this book was dry and boring but I do not agree. It contains a lot of facts and details of the trial but the author did a more than decent job of bringing the people to life. Though I questioned some of the authenticity of Charlene and the victim’s thoughts I can see why the author felt the need to put words in their mouths to better get the story across. It makes sense even though it never feels quite genuine.

This was a disturbing listen that may leave you feeling angry and upset for the victims and their families. I recommend it for true crime fans and the morbid among us.

*I received this audio from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.