{"id":6682,"date":"2019-06-29T12:53:55","date_gmt":"2019-06-29T16:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/?p=6682"},"modified":"2019-06-29T12:53:55","modified_gmt":"2019-06-29T16:53:55","slug":"book-review-evil-by-wol-vriey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/book-review-evil-by-wol-vriey\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: EVIL by Wol-vriey"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

EVIL, \u00a0<\/em>by Wol-vriey<\/p>\n

Burning Bulb Publishing, 2019<\/p>\n

ISBN: 978-0-9977-7304-0<\/p>\n

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wol-vriey’s latest, EVIL, <\/em>reads like a pastiche of 80’s horror films and 70’s creature features: all the elements are there.\u00a0 Creepy farmhouse in the middle of nowhere?\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 Protagonists who do dumb things?\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 Freaky monsters from Hell?\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 Drinking, drugs, graphic violence and graphic, needless sex?\u00a0 Check, check, check, and check.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s not to say that combining tried and true elements like the above is a bad thing– it can still be fun.\u00a0 This story is entertaining, but it does feel a little predictable at times.\u00a0 It’s a decent effort from a splatter-specialist author that his fans will probably enjoy; it just isn’t quite up to the level of his best works.<\/p>\n

Ronan Higgins is the classic “farmer in the middle of nowhere”, which, in this case, is western Massachusetts.\u00a0 When his 19-year-old daughter dies in a farming accident, Fate intervenes in the form of a tall man who appears from nowhere, known as the Bargainer. Ronan cuts a deal with him to get his daughter back, but Ronan’s end of it involves planting special seeds the Bargainer gives him, which need to grow in human flesh.\u00a0 Lots and lots, of torn up, bloody human flesh.\u00a0 Ronan conveniently has a large outdoor birthday party planned for his 29-year-old niece Sylvia the next weekend, so there’s your victim supply.\u00a0 You can guess the rest; it’s a late night drink, drug and sex party, and most of the people are quickly disposed of in messy fashion, either by Ronan or the demons from Hell that show up.\u00a0\u00a0 The rest of the story concerns those plucky few survivors who endeavor to avoid becoming exotic fertilizer for the Bargainer and Ronan’s seeds.<\/p>\n

This is a nice, simple story with some creative ideas, and enough blood and entrails to keep the gorehounds happy.\u00a0 There are axes, chainsaws, and someone getting nailed to a pallet while still alive, plus demons burning people to death– enough to satisfy the hardcore readers.\u00a0 The story moves at a quick pace;\u00a0 it just feels a bit light and predictable in places.\u00a0 The demons in the story add a new dimension to the narrative, but they get very minimal page time, and little is given to explaining the Bargainer or his minions.\u00a0 The characters behave in foolish ways, like they do in any 80’s cinema splatfest, so you can usually predict what’s going to happen to them, which takes away from some of the fun.\u00a0 The end does toss in a little twist, but overall, the reader will be able to guess what will happen a few pages in advance.\u00a0 It’s still fun, but the predictability does flatten out the excitement somewhat.<\/p>\n

If you liked Wol-vriey’s writing before, EVIL <\/em>probably won’t change your opinion.\u00a0 It’s entertaining, but you might feel like it was a good idea that could have been a bit better.\u00a0 If you haven’t read him before, you might want to start with one of his other books.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contains: graphic violence, graphic sex, drug use, rape.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EVIL, \u00a0by Wol-vriey Burning Bulb Publishing, 2019 ISBN: 978-0-9977-7304-0 Available: Paperback, Kindle edition   Wol-vriey’s latest, EVIL, reads like a pastiche of 80’s horror films and 70’s creature features: all the elements are there.\u00a0 Creepy farmhouse in the middle of nowhere?\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 Protagonists who do dumb things?\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 Freaky monsters from Hell?\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 Drinking, drugs,<\/p>\n

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