A devilishly satisfying work of twisted comedy starring the exploits of an unrepentant alcoholic joker.
In Kempf’s horror novel, a troubled addict adds revenge to his long list of missteps.
Prolific horror writer Kempf’s knack for deft characterization is on vivid display with his Pennsylvanian protagonist Jack Lively, a recovering alcoholic, raging drunk driver, wife batterer, father of one, and “three-time loser.” After a series of drunken blackouts and arrests, resulting in “three DUIs in two years,” he is placed on nine months of house arrest. Oddly, he is allowed a travel radius that includes a small bar where he performs onstage. Lively is a comedian whose penchant for raunchy black humor often leaves audiences angry. Adding misery on top of despair is Emily—his embittered “heartless, cruel, and mean” ex-wife—for whom he harbors a seething resentment despite the temporary relief found at Twelve Steps meetings and regular romps with Riley, a local escort. Between check-up visits from his community corrections officer and random breathalyzer tests, recurring dreams of murdering Emily haunt him. While his comedy routine is consistently offensive (including a skit involving a bloody stuffed bunny), Lively’s interactions with his appalled, heckling audiences result in several rousing sequences in Kempf’s short novel. Also notable is the author’s realistic portrayal of Lively’s alcoholism, which manifests itself in painful cravings he calls his “sleeping giant.” In the ultimate vengeance ruse to rob and murder Emily, Lively conspires with Riley, who desperately needs a cash infusion to repay her pimp, and the expected mayhem ensues. Kempf’s first-person narration dives deep into Lively’s psyche to expose his fear of failure, his devotion to alcohol, and the dark, murderous nature of a revenge plot. The author manages to evoke sympathy for his protagonist within his innate struggle to survive and to make sense of his misled life. In Kempf’s world, there are no happy endings, but there are unquestionable comeuppance and wry humor in spades. This potent novel will appeal particularly to fans of bleak humor and bad-guy characters who remain shameless from beginning to end.
A devilishly satisfying work of twisted comedy starring the exploits of an unrepentant alcoholic joker.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 172
Publisher: Graylyn Press
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Soapy, suspenseful fun.
A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.
Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.
Soapy, suspenseful fun.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227325
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.
A medical student is assigned an overnight shift to observe a Long Island hospital’s psychiatric ward and help with emergencies. You’d never guess what happens next.
Amy Brenner isn’t even interested in psychiatry, the one medical specialty she’s never considered for her own career. Nor is she interested any more in Cameron Berger, the classmate who ended their relationship so that he could spend more time studying, and she’s not pleased to learn that he’s switched his rotation with another student so he can spend some of the next 13 hours persuading Amy to rekindle their romance. Predictably, Cam will be the least of Amy’s troubles. Apart from Dr. Richard Beck and nurse Ramona Dutton, everyone else on Ward D is much more dangerous, from elderly Mary Cummings, whose knitting needles aren’t plastic but sharpened steel, to William Schoenfeld, who’s stopped taking the medications that were supposed to silence the voices telling him to kill people, to Damon Sawyer, who’s confined in Seclusion One and can’t possibly escape, unless a power outage neutralizes the locks. Most threatening of all is Jade Carpenter, whose close friendship with Amy ended eight years ago when Amy turned her in for what ended up being only one of a whole series of thrill crimes. McFadden measures out the complications, revelations, and betrayals with such an expert hand that readers anxiously trying to figure out whom Amy can trust as her goal shifts from ticking off a toilsome requirement to surviving the night may well end up wondering whom they can trust themselves. And isn’t provoking that kind of paranoia what medical thrillers are all about?
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227271
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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