Succulent Prey should come with a warning on the cover: WARNING - Not for the faint of heart, weak stomachs or if your idea of horror is Stephen King and Dean Koontz. If you like your horror to be serial killers, cannabalism, and graphic page after page drenched in blood, Succulent Prey might be for you. This is my first forray into Wrath James White's writing and yes, it's brutal, but White isn't a one-trick pony. The guy can flat out write. In the hands of a less talented author, this story easily gets lost. But White breathes life into it...well...right before he rips open a chest and yanks our a heart and eats it. Okay, I'm regressing. Joey is an 11-year-old kid that gets abducted by a serial killer who gets his kicks by slicing his victims and drinking his blood. Joey was the first victim and for some unknown reason, the killer lets him go. The subsequent victims aren't so lucky. They're brutally sliced apart, blood drank and flesh consumed. The killer, Trent, is finally apprehended and sent away to a mental institution. Flash forward to present day where Joey is a sophomore in college and he's a big boy, and when I say big, I mean football player/body builder big. Top it off that he look like Superman from the comics and you can see why he has no problem picking up women. Unfortunately, the scars of his past have made his sex life and desires slide to the extreme. And when I say extreme, I'm not talking a little light bondage S&M. No, Joey dreams of sinking his teeth into their flesh and consuming them in one bloody bite after another.

I'll stop here on the story's details and say that this story could've easily went off the rails into the rediculous many times, but Wrath gives us a compelling tale that pulls you in. Joey is a complex character that you can't decide how you feel about him. His victims are the sad sacks with no self esteem that society typically exploits. At times, you think, "who'd do that?", then you realize that yes, there are people out there like that. At times, the story walks the razor's edge of suspension of disbelief, but White delivers a blood-soaked thrill ride with your hair on fire. If you like your stories to extreme splatterpunk, grab your raincoat and try to avoid the splatters.

4 1/2 Chewed-Off Nipples out of 5

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I remember this being a very generic novel. I got it through Leisure's paperback horror club a long time ago in a galaxy far away.

Plot: Invisible man is a civil war ghost, or some shit. I enjoyed it though, so it gets a three.

In summation: Never been a huge Masterton fan and this one didn't change that. Fun but overall forgettable.

Final Judgment: A Nightmare on Elm Street without the dreams.

Somebody I follow said they loved Sarah Pinborough.  I can't even remember where.  I knew she was a horror writer.  I found this awhile back at a used bookstore.  I periodically find stuff that is on top of one of my piles and the cover will intrigue me so I pick it up.  Sometimes I read it.

I started this and about 20 pages in I thought it was too romancy for me and I also thought I had figured out the end.  I was so wrong on both counts.  I had put the book down but decided to go look at some of the reviews on badreads anyway, which I almost never do before I read something.  Actually the one star reviews were more helpful than any others:  "This book is just like my nightmares.  Why would anyone ever want to read it?"  Hmmm, well, other than proving that you really can learn something even from an idiot, I decided to give it another go.  50 pages in I was hooked.

Great characters, multiple plot lines, and a situation so weird you can't imagine anyone ever figuring out what is going on or how it can possibly resolve (including me).  As the weird body count rises (you never know how the next guest is going to expire) the suspense builds.  Is this going to be happily ever after, or everyone's doomed?  On top of a rollicking good read you have a very profound question about the nature of guilt or innocence.

I'm not going to even hint at the ending other than to say you won't know it until Pinborough shows it.  

Who are the damned and who are the saved?

The only criticism I had is this Leisure mmpb was riddled with typos.