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Candy and Cigarettes
"Candy & Cigarettes is noir of the very highest order, a dark and moody cocktail of the bleak and the beautifully damaged." ~Chris Leek, Out of the Gutter Online
In the face of revenge, innocence is meaningless.
Death is omnipresent to small-town loner Lloyd Bizbang. Today proves no exception. After being attacked yet again by a pair of sociopaths who have targeted him since childhood, Lloyd stumbles upon a sight he wishes he could unsee in the town junkyard. Now as he just tries to live through another day, the bodies are stacking up in the town of Horton, and Lloyd finds himself connected to each of them via the drug-and-drink-addled, unhinging police chief, yet another person who has an old score to settle with Lloyd. A game of revenge and survival is underway, but will there be a winner at the day’s end?
In the face of revenge, innocence is meaningless.
Death is omnipresent to small-town loner Lloyd Bizbang. Today proves no exception. After being attacked yet again by a pair of sociopaths who have targeted him since childhood, Lloyd stumbles upon a sight he wishes he could unsee in the town junkyard. Now as he just tries to live through another day, the bodies are stacking up in the town of Horton, and Lloyd finds himself connected to each of them via the drug-and-drink-addled, unhinging police chief, yet another person who has an old score to settle with Lloyd. A game of revenge and survival is underway, but will there be a winner at the day’s end?
88 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 15, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 21, 2019
No matter how bad things get, you can always have something to be thankful for. I always tell people - okay, not always, but when the mood strikes - that it could have been worse...you could have had hemorrhoids.
Or, if you have hemorrhoids, you could have been stuck at a James Blunt concert.
Or, if you like James Blunt (you have my pity), you could have been forced to watch a Kardashian marathon.
Or, if you like the Kardashians, you have bigger problems than I can help you with, so go and sulk somewhere else because you are depressing the manic depressives even more, Jerry, and maybe you should just stop watching that shit and everything in your life WILL actually be better...
Um, where was I?
Right - looking on the bright side...
Anyway, none of my advice would have helped Lloyd. This story begins where he gets shot in the face. And things only get worse from there...
Okay, I wanted to start this review with some humor because this story actually got to me. Not in the way the movie THE GOLDEN SEAL did in the 80's - he dies! Do you have any idea how much that fucked up my preteen little mind?!
All kidding aside, folks, the atmosphere in this story is extremely grim, as I am sure the author intended it to be, and it gets into emotional places, scratches at the scabs if old wounds, if you will. One thing I can tell you for sure - C.S. DeWildt is a very talented writer and a name to watch for the future.
Minor editing mistakes, but overall a great story - I especially loved the final chapter.
Not really sure if this will qualify as horror, thriller or something else entirely. Download was free, I encourage people to try it.
Or, if you have hemorrhoids, you could have been stuck at a James Blunt concert.
Or, if you like James Blunt (you have my pity), you could have been forced to watch a Kardashian marathon.
Or, if you like the Kardashians, you have bigger problems than I can help you with, so go and sulk somewhere else because you are depressing the manic depressives even more, Jerry, and maybe you should just stop watching that shit and everything in your life WILL actually be better...
Um, where was I?
Right - looking on the bright side...
Anyway, none of my advice would have helped Lloyd. This story begins where he gets shot in the face. And things only get worse from there...
Okay, I wanted to start this review with some humor because this story actually got to me. Not in the way the movie THE GOLDEN SEAL did in the 80's - he dies! Do you have any idea how much that fucked up my preteen little mind?!
All kidding aside, folks, the atmosphere in this story is extremely grim, as I am sure the author intended it to be, and it gets into emotional places, scratches at the scabs if old wounds, if you will. One thing I can tell you for sure - C.S. DeWildt is a very talented writer and a name to watch for the future.
Minor editing mistakes, but overall a great story - I especially loved the final chapter.
Not really sure if this will qualify as horror, thriller or something else entirely. Download was free, I encourage people to try it.
September 3, 2019
Lloyd Bizbang. The name almost has a clownish quality to it, right? But there is nothing funny about the day that Lloyd has ahead of him. Death has always had a way of insinuating itself into his life. He comes under the heading of unfinished business for some of the town folk, not the least of which is a police chief who is battling his own demons. A fairly brutal read. The final chapter was killer. Chilling.
October 27, 2019
Everything is dying or dead in the small town of Horton....including its citizens.
Dark, bloody violence is the name of the game in C AND C with drugs and alcohol aplenty.
CANDY AND CIGARETTES are for grandpa....a life of misery for Floyd Bizbang....and then there's the end.
December 10, 2017
This novella is a quick read that immediately grabs you by the throat, shakes you around, and doesn't let go until it's done. I couldn't put it down. It revolves around a pair of vicious brothers on a crime spree, a drug-addicted cop, and those caught in their wake. One dude, Lloyd Bizbang, takes the brunt of their fallout. As in Love You to a Pulp, DeWildt paints a solid backstory for the beautifully damaged Lloyd. Life has been sticking it to him since he was little, and it's about to get worse. Highly recommended for anybody looking to read something nasty, brutish and short.
May 1, 2015
A while back I read a great book by CS DeWildt (Love You to a Pulp)and I loved it so much I thought I would try out one of his earlier novels and I am really glad I made that decision. Candy and Cigarettes is as good as its successor is and I loved everything about it.
This offering from DeWildt is a short novella but it packs a punch equal to some longer works of other authors. It centers on Lloyd Bizbang, who has been tormented throughout his life because he was present at his younger sister’s death (and inadvertently contributed to it) and also had a hand in his grandmother’s death. When death follows a young child this closely, a stigma is sure to develop and Llyod has done little in lfe to rid himself of the dark cloud that follows him around.
His main rivals are Terry and Zeke Cutter who are burning a path of criminal destruction through the town and making things appear that Llyod has a hand in the crimes. These two are angry, vengeful brothers who set out to make Llyod’s life a living hell and have succeeded at every turn. Their crimes are becoming more violent and they set themselves onto a path of sure destruction.
The novella also features the Chief of Police who is has found out he is terminally ill and that news has set him on a self-destructive path and he seems set on taking Llyod down with him. His mental instability made the chapters featuring him a blast to read and he adds a good deal of depth to the story.
The book has a lightening paced plot and the characters all have life to them. If I had to pick out the one thing I didn’t like about the book, I would say it was too short! The writing chops that DeWildt has were on full display here and I am glad I devoured this book. If you haven’t sampled this author yet, you need to rectify that immediately.
Highly recommended.
This offering from DeWildt is a short novella but it packs a punch equal to some longer works of other authors. It centers on Lloyd Bizbang, who has been tormented throughout his life because he was present at his younger sister’s death (and inadvertently contributed to it) and also had a hand in his grandmother’s death. When death follows a young child this closely, a stigma is sure to develop and Llyod has done little in lfe to rid himself of the dark cloud that follows him around.
His main rivals are Terry and Zeke Cutter who are burning a path of criminal destruction through the town and making things appear that Llyod has a hand in the crimes. These two are angry, vengeful brothers who set out to make Llyod’s life a living hell and have succeeded at every turn. Their crimes are becoming more violent and they set themselves onto a path of sure destruction.
The novella also features the Chief of Police who is has found out he is terminally ill and that news has set him on a self-destructive path and he seems set on taking Llyod down with him. His mental instability made the chapters featuring him a blast to read and he adds a good deal of depth to the story.
The book has a lightening paced plot and the characters all have life to them. If I had to pick out the one thing I didn’t like about the book, I would say it was too short! The writing chops that DeWildt has were on full display here and I am glad I devoured this book. If you haven’t sampled this author yet, you need to rectify that immediately.
Highly recommended.
March 13, 2013
C.S. DeWildt has a bead on small details and setting. I had the pleasure of reading DeWildt’s gritty short story, “Watch Dog Crew” on Shotgun Honey last November and was impressed with his quick development of character and wonderful (in the darkest sense) use of language. When I saw DeWildt had new novella out, I had to pick it up.
As you can expect from the cover and the blurb, Candy and Cigarettes is a very dark tale. You’ll get a good idea of what to expect when – not if – you head over to Shotgun Honey for a 700 word appetizer.
The story centers on Lloyd Bizbang, who, through a series of terrible and unfortunate events, has found himself an outcast in a small town where the inhabitants seem to do everything in their power to keep from moving on with the outside world. The characters in the novel range from ugly to nasty – but grounded and not over the top in any sense. It is difficult to root for any of them. This may drag in a full-length novel, but here it works well, keeping the reader tense and questioning whether or not to sympathize with such depressing situations.
DeWildt’s decision to use a close third person from multiple POVs (some chapters only a page or two long) worked well to ramp up the tension and give additional insight to the inhabitants of Horton. I’m not always a fan of using many POVs, but each is distinct and DeWildt does a great job of establishing a lot of character within a little space.
Candy and Cigarettes won’t leave you feeling good, but that’s the way it should be. It’s a depressing look at a town plagued with bullies on the brink of disaster – and I mean that in the best sense. I look forward to DeWildt’s next book. This one is definitely worth checking out.
As you can expect from the cover and the blurb, Candy and Cigarettes is a very dark tale. You’ll get a good idea of what to expect when – not if – you head over to Shotgun Honey for a 700 word appetizer.
The story centers on Lloyd Bizbang, who, through a series of terrible and unfortunate events, has found himself an outcast in a small town where the inhabitants seem to do everything in their power to keep from moving on with the outside world. The characters in the novel range from ugly to nasty – but grounded and not over the top in any sense. It is difficult to root for any of them. This may drag in a full-length novel, but here it works well, keeping the reader tense and questioning whether or not to sympathize with such depressing situations.
DeWildt’s decision to use a close third person from multiple POVs (some chapters only a page or two long) worked well to ramp up the tension and give additional insight to the inhabitants of Horton. I’m not always a fan of using many POVs, but each is distinct and DeWildt does a great job of establishing a lot of character within a little space.
Candy and Cigarettes won’t leave you feeling good, but that’s the way it should be. It’s a depressing look at a town plagued with bullies on the brink of disaster – and I mean that in the best sense. I look forward to DeWildt’s next book. This one is definitely worth checking out.
February 5, 2014
If I owned a bookstore, I'd put it in the weird rural noir section. (I don't know if there would be any other books with it.) This is more a serious of perfectly sketched vignettes (rather than a novella) that orbit around the jagged story of Lloyd Bizbang. Dude can't seem to ever catch a break and has become the target of a couple of moronic psychos. But there are so many delightful tangents about life in this swirling-the-drain town. The one that sticks out to me most is about two drug-addled teenagers and one unfortunate convenience store clerk.
Really sharp writing, vivid characters, and that noir sense of decay and guaranteed awfulness. Highly recommended.
Really sharp writing, vivid characters, and that noir sense of decay and guaranteed awfulness. Highly recommended.
June 22, 2014
There is no parallel for the distinctively skewed work of C.S. Dewildt. Nobody comes at stories from the same angle as this guy. The only point of comparison I have is the 1980s movie "Repo Man", which also came out of left field and shares a degree of the same odd humor.
If you read this and Dewildt's collection of stories, "Dead Animals", you will see some common themes. Perhaps the most central is this...Dewildt is fascinated by what society/the world casts off: people, possessions, matter both organic and inorganic. The living and dead are uncomfortably close together.
If you read this and Dewildt's collection of stories, "Dead Animals", you will see some common themes. Perhaps the most central is this...Dewildt is fascinated by what society/the world casts off: people, possessions, matter both organic and inorganic. The living and dead are uncomfortably close together.
May 28, 2016
Gritty and brutal crime novella with an impressive collection of psychopaths including a terminally ill small-town Chief of Police who does more damage than all the criminals combined. Great use of multiple POVs, all in close-third, and all distinct. Nary an uplifting word, so be prepared for the death march.
November 20, 2018
Reread this today and had to redo the review (rating stayed the same).
CS DeWildt is a badass in the world of depravity, and the lost-in-life, and the outcasts that he sets his stories in. His characters are always realistic in a way that's borderline frightening to know these people can (and do) exist in your everyday world. These aren't the people that movies are made up of; these are the people that, odds are, you know in real life. Or maybe I just need to reevaluate some of my friendships . . .
A common theme with DeWildt's stories tend to be that they all have a level of bizarre and absurdist elements within the story (usually a noir) which makes them take on a philosophical vibe (without being preachy about it).
I've been trying to figure out why CS DeWildt (very quickly) jumped to the spot of my top favorite authors, and after rereading this I figured out why: his work reminds me of Kem Nunn. To those who don't know who Kem Nunn is . . . this is a MAJOR compliment in the world of Noir.
The only thing I wish this story had is more pages. Seriously, did not want this story to end so fast.
CS DeWildt is a badass in the world of depravity, and the lost-in-life, and the outcasts that he sets his stories in. His characters are always realistic in a way that's borderline frightening to know these people can (and do) exist in your everyday world. These aren't the people that movies are made up of; these are the people that, odds are, you know in real life. Or maybe I just need to reevaluate some of my friendships . . .
A common theme with DeWildt's stories tend to be that they all have a level of bizarre and absurdist elements within the story (usually a noir) which makes them take on a philosophical vibe (without being preachy about it).
I've been trying to figure out why CS DeWildt (very quickly) jumped to the spot of my top favorite authors, and after rereading this I figured out why: his work reminds me of Kem Nunn. To those who don't know who Kem Nunn is . . . this is a MAJOR compliment in the world of Noir.
The only thing I wish this story had is more pages. Seriously, did not want this story to end so fast.
June 27, 2012
Anybody who grew up in a small or mid-sized suburbia will be able to visualize this story! Very intriguing and though provoking... You feel for the characters, some you feel contempt, others sympathy. At the same time you're trying to figure out what's going on! Even if no beatings or murders happened in your own town, everybody had a bully and a bully target or a legend. This is a story you can feel. LOVE it.
April 16, 2013
Fast and brutal. Literally, this short book wastes no time. It starts out brutal, keeps brutal through the middle, and finishes brutal. Whatever you want to call it: gritty, visceral...it's all still words for brutal and this short book beats on you as a reader constantly. That may not sound like a good thing, but it is.
October 27, 2020
Lost the initial review I wrote for this one, so here are more remembered thoughts than actual thoughts.
C.S. DeWildt continues to put his own spin on the small town noir book with an underlying air of the cosmic throughout this one. Lloyd Bizbang has been accused of two murders in his young life even though it appears both were accidental and returns to his hometown of Horton to care for his grandfather despite the torrent of abuse, both physical and verbal, he is victim to. When the body of a young boy is discovered, the Sheriff, who owes more to the sheriffs of Jim Thompson, decides that the culprit is surely Lloyd and sets about hunting him down.
Really enjoyed this one and DeWildt is excellent with back stories for his protagonists. There are passages throughout that elevate it beyond your typical small town noir as cosmic airs are invoked. This is definitely an excellent starting point to find out about DeWildt’s twisted noir style and I’ll always look out for future releases as he brings something different to the genre with every book.
C.S. DeWildt continues to put his own spin on the small town noir book with an underlying air of the cosmic throughout this one. Lloyd Bizbang has been accused of two murders in his young life even though it appears both were accidental and returns to his hometown of Horton to care for his grandfather despite the torrent of abuse, both physical and verbal, he is victim to. When the body of a young boy is discovered, the Sheriff, who owes more to the sheriffs of Jim Thompson, decides that the culprit is surely Lloyd and sets about hunting him down.
Really enjoyed this one and DeWildt is excellent with back stories for his protagonists. There are passages throughout that elevate it beyond your typical small town noir as cosmic airs are invoked. This is definitely an excellent starting point to find out about DeWildt’s twisted noir style and I’ll always look out for future releases as he brings something different to the genre with every book.
August 30, 2011
This novella was pretty gritty, dark and at moments scary. All kinds of wonderful to me.
However, I feel like it bounced around a lot. Maybe a little too much.
If the story just flowed from beginning, to the middle and then the end, it would have been a little more enjoyable.
So cool aspects, and an interesting plot, but not so well laid out for me.
This is definitely a story I would like to hear other peoples' opinions on it.
However, I feel like it bounced around a lot. Maybe a little too much.
If the story just flowed from beginning, to the middle and then the end, it would have been a little more enjoyable.
So cool aspects, and an interesting plot, but not so well laid out for me.
This is definitely a story I would like to hear other peoples' opinions on it.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews