Community Reviews
Flesh Rehearsal is my first time reading any of Brian Bowyer's work - it won't be the last.
How I came to read this book is because I received an ARC from the author in exchange for a review. I had already scheduled another book by him on my TBR, but since this one arrived sooner and had a gorgeous cover, it got moved straight to the top of the pile.
Flesh Rehearsal is the type of horror that I love. Any time you give me a book with a serial killer involved, I'm going to be a happy camper. The synopsis tells us about the killer, so you know that going in....but what it doesn't tell you, is WHO the killer IS. I had so much fun trying to figure that out throughout the story.
In addition to the thrill of suspense and dread from the chapters about our killer, we follow a group of teenagers: Gretchen, Amelia and Jacob. Gretchen becomes an orphan through tragic events and hits the road in search of a new direction in life, where she teams up with siblings Amelia and Jacob. The trio shares a love for writing and composing music and fall right into making music together and the formation of a rock band with the potential to take the music scene by storm.
Ludlow is another character we spend a lot of time with. He's the son of a music producer, who also owns a popular night club. Ludlow is schizophrenic and he shares that information with everyone he meets. I got a laugh out of him because he would suffer and event or delusion and would always think about how he really needed to take his medication.
The serial killer - The Lobotomizer - lurks. Victims are showing up at an alarming rate - everyone is talking about it. There comes a point where the killer takes an interest in the teens band...want to know what happens??? You'll have to read and find out - see if YOU can guess who the killer is. I thought I had the person pegged for the majority of the novel, then changed my mind....then changed it again. LOL
There was one stand out scene for me in this book - a bartender in a night club was taking care of her mother, who'd had surgery recently. The mother refused the pain medication and gave the pills to the bartender, who was a recovering heroin addict. The bartender relapsed and took all the pills. She went to her boss and told him what happened and he IMMEDIATELY, no questions asked, got her the help she needed and at his expense. That one simple action just reached out of the book and slapped me with compassion. I loved that.
There is a fair amount of drug use in this book and a metric TON of alcohol abuse. I would say teenagers drinking that much was unbelievable, but then I remember a group of friends of mine growing up....literally drank every day...and still do. LOL Must have livers of steel.
Looking forward to reading more by Brian Bowyer in the upcoming months!
How I came to read this book is because I received an ARC from the author in exchange for a review. I had already scheduled another book by him on my TBR, but since this one arrived sooner and had a gorgeous cover, it got moved straight to the top of the pile.
Flesh Rehearsal is the type of horror that I love. Any time you give me a book with a serial killer involved, I'm going to be a happy camper. The synopsis tells us about the killer, so you know that going in....but what it doesn't tell you, is WHO the killer IS. I had so much fun trying to figure that out throughout the story.
In addition to the thrill of suspense and dread from the chapters about our killer, we follow a group of teenagers: Gretchen, Amelia and Jacob. Gretchen becomes an orphan through tragic events and hits the road in search of a new direction in life, where she teams up with siblings Amelia and Jacob. The trio shares a love for writing and composing music and fall right into making music together and the formation of a rock band with the potential to take the music scene by storm.
Ludlow is another character we spend a lot of time with. He's the son of a music producer, who also owns a popular night club. Ludlow is schizophrenic and he shares that information with everyone he meets. I got a laugh out of him because he would suffer and event or delusion and would always think about how he really needed to take his medication.
The serial killer - The Lobotomizer - lurks. Victims are showing up at an alarming rate - everyone is talking about it. There comes a point where the killer takes an interest in the teens band...want to know what happens??? You'll have to read and find out - see if YOU can guess who the killer is. I thought I had the person pegged for the majority of the novel, then changed my mind....then changed it again. LOL
There was one stand out scene for me in this book - a bartender in a night club was taking care of her mother, who'd had surgery recently. The mother refused the pain medication and gave the pills to the bartender, who was a recovering heroin addict. The bartender relapsed and took all the pills. She went to her boss and told him what happened and he IMMEDIATELY, no questions asked, got her the help she needed and at his expense. That one simple action just reached out of the book and slapped me with compassion. I loved that.
There is a fair amount of drug use in this book and a metric TON of alcohol abuse. I would say teenagers drinking that much was unbelievable, but then I remember a group of friends of mine growing up....literally drank every day...and still do. LOL Must have livers of steel.
Looking forward to reading more by Brian Bowyer in the upcoming months!
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