Imaginary Friend

by Troy McCombs

The apostles said to Jesus, “Make our faith greater.” Jesus answered, “If you had faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Pull yourself up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea!' and it would obey you.” a materialized thought that has taken physical form. Eight-year-old Nathan Stevenson is beat by his father, teased by his peers, and has zero friends—except Max, his imaginary friend. Max is a heroic creature he created years ago when the physical abuse became too much to bear. Strangely, every time Nathan imagines him, he becomes more lifelike, more substantial... but nobody could guess what soon happens when Nathan refuses to be a victim anymore. The barriers of reality break down, and Max becomes real. Only Nathan can see him, but anyone can feel his violent wrath. The monster slays anyone who gets in his creator's path, and eats the hearts of his casualties in order to obtain strength. There's only one can Nathan learn to control his Tulpa? Or will it break free from his mental restraints to do whatever it desires? Either way, there will be a lot of dead bodies to clean up! Author's This paranormal/splatterpunk horror novel, Imaginary Friend, has been updated with a new cover and has been reedited for a more soothing read. It also contains elements of science fiction and fantasy, but the information about "Tulpas" are based on fact. For adults only!

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Reviews

[Ms. Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nathan has had a hard life and he hasn't even hit his teens yet. His mother is addicted to drugs and his abusive father has no love for Nathan.

Nathan hopes and dreams for a better life. Instead he gets Max, a not-so imaginary friend who, over time, starts to act on Nathan's behalf.

For Nathan, this is a dream come true. He wants everyone to pay for the hurt they've inflicted on him and it doesn't matter if they die in the process.

Imaginary Friend had a wonderful concept, but failed to live up to my expectations. I was looking for scary. I got a creature that eats trees. I was looking for sympathetic characters. I got a boy with seemingly no remorse for his actions, a mother who cared more about drugs and getting smacked up than her once-loving son, and people who overlook how wronged Nathan has been done.

I'm just going to say that this read dragged on and I found a lot of what happened in this story to be utterly unrealistic and over/under-done.

There's potential here, but the story definitely needs to be edited.

A "Not for me" read.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nathan is not your average eight year old boy. He is a victim. Abused by his father, terrorized by bullies at school, and misunderstood by his teachers and principal, Nathan has had enough. He fantasizes about a monster that comes to his rescue, wrecking havoc and violent deaths to all who mistreat the boy. The more Nathan imagines his monster the more realistic it becomes - both in added details to the beast and in substance. It isn't long before the impossible becomes possible - Nathan's imaginary friend becomes real and Nathan finds that he cannot control his creation's murderous tendencies.

A very interesting premise put forth by author Troy McCombs. While I could feel sorry for the little boy because of the abuse he suffered, I had a hard time really liking the character. His whole hearted rage, constant denial of any complicity, self righteous attitude, and lack of remorse once the killing spree began made the boy seem a tad bit creepy to me.

Entertaining story that is well worth the time and effort that it takes to read it. I would recommend this book to those who love stories about fantasy creatures come to life or underdogs who come out on top.

[Mercedes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read Damaged by Troy McCombs as well and loved it, I tried out this book. It’s dealing with bullies again although the ones in this book are the main characters father and school peers and he’s younger. It’s very sad, poor Nathan. This book had me from the start and I was so eager to see Max help Nathan out. I was rooting for him through everything. However, I did start to lose interest during the basketball game. There also seemed to be some editing issues, nothing that I stopped me from reading or slowed me down, but they were noticeable. I loved how Nathan finally was fitting in, but it seemed to go forever. I don’t really think this is so much an issue with the writing as it was me. Sports don’t interest me much and I generally start to zone out when they are involved. Overall, this is a good book and if you liked Damaged, try this one out.