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Something Fierce by David Drayer
Something Fierce is a love story that challenges definitions of love. When struggling writer Seth Hardy accepts a teaching position at a college championing his novel, he discovers he has a gift for inspiring students. None more than Kerri Engel, a brilliant but troubled young woman determined to get her professor’s attention. What follows is an intense, sensual affair that is as tender as it is shocking and all consuming. Timely and provocative, this psychological and emotional tale brazenly tests the boundaries between sanity and madness, love and obsession, demanding that characters and readers alike explore their perceptions of truth, passion, and what is real.
Mass Market Paperback
First published June 23, 2013
4 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
David Drayer
6 books8 followersDavid Drayer is the author of the novels Strip Cuts, Something Fierce, and A Noble Story. Born in the small town of Rimersburg, Pennsylvania, he has lived all over the country. He holds an MFA from the University of Iowa and has worked dozens of jobs, including stints as a construction worker, English professor, landscaper, ghostwriter, corporate trainer, and instructional designer. Drayer has a penchant for impromptu, open-ended motorcycles trips, long hikes, and good food.
Learn more at DAVIDDRAYER.COM
Learn more at DAVIDDRAYER.COM
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 8, 2013
Breath-taking and deeply engaging, Something Fierce is a very decent work delving deep into the world of love and passion, but dealing with it in a way that makes the reader feel the topic has been generally taken for granted before, even by those with controversial and non-conforming perspectives on it. So many questions and so much uncertainty and doubt is unearthed from the heart of Seth Hardy’s ultimate resolution to shun the deceptions and temptations of the inexplicably promiscuous, enigmatically domineering, sadistically cruel, paradoxical, frightening, clever and sexy Kerri.
The novel’s fast pace and its incessant suspense does not allow the reader to put down the book one moment or get it off his/her mind after reading it. There is a good sense of humor, good use of language, and appropriate, mature handling of the narrative. But the best feature of the book is none of these; it is actually its psychological analyses and the related vivid descriptions of the minds of the main characters, Seth and Kerri. David Drayer, without resorting to clichés or pretention, manages to write a book full of powerful insights into life and love; into why and how a lover can turn into a demon out of whose grip not even a character with years of experience under his belt can easily wrench himself free.
The book is articulate not in telling, but in showing, how relationships can be all about power. Control, domination, and manipulation. And about how characters can be heroes or culprits in the mundane realities of their daily lives, as the reader most probably considers Seth one and Kerri the other at the end of the story. The reader is left to contemplate Kerri and resolve her complications for herself/himself. How is she so much in love with Seth and so connivingly uncommitted at once? And what is the reader to make of Seth’s decision? Strength? Or the opposite?
This novel is itself something fierce, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in human psyche, the deepest feelings and the most obscure causes that control passion and its unpredictable twists and turns.
The novel’s fast pace and its incessant suspense does not allow the reader to put down the book one moment or get it off his/her mind after reading it. There is a good sense of humor, good use of language, and appropriate, mature handling of the narrative. But the best feature of the book is none of these; it is actually its psychological analyses and the related vivid descriptions of the minds of the main characters, Seth and Kerri. David Drayer, without resorting to clichés or pretention, manages to write a book full of powerful insights into life and love; into why and how a lover can turn into a demon out of whose grip not even a character with years of experience under his belt can easily wrench himself free.
The book is articulate not in telling, but in showing, how relationships can be all about power. Control, domination, and manipulation. And about how characters can be heroes or culprits in the mundane realities of their daily lives, as the reader most probably considers Seth one and Kerri the other at the end of the story. The reader is left to contemplate Kerri and resolve her complications for herself/himself. How is she so much in love with Seth and so connivingly uncommitted at once? And what is the reader to make of Seth’s decision? Strength? Or the opposite?
This novel is itself something fierce, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in human psyche, the deepest feelings and the most obscure causes that control passion and its unpredictable twists and turns.
August 28, 2013
While "Something Fierce" seems, at the beginning, to be a generic "edgy" romantic-fling of a tale between a middle-aged college professor and one of his sexy, smart students, it shortly evolves into something much more.
As the events (which I will not go into detail about here) unfold (as told effectively through the alternating points of view between the two lovers) in an increasingly frenzied manner, I could not put the book down, eyes racing down the pages more quickly than my head could keep up; that speaks volumes to Mr. Drayer's pacing and style, which keeps the action and plot evolving along with the romance between the two. That is, as the relationship deteriorates, the pace of the prose picks up as well. This is a difficult skill to master, and Drayer got it right.
All of this said, I could only give 3 stars for a few reasons. First, the alternating points of view that serve as chapters in the early portion of the novel ceases to be, which keeps the audience from understanding both sides of this romance. Instead of giving the readers a chance to understand the complex emotions of both characters, they simply receive one side, which unfortunately narrows the focus of the story. Second, for as smart as Kerry (the young college student) is presented in the novel, I never see evidence that she truly is as smart as told. I do not believe her actions or emotions prove her to be as intelligent as I would like for her to be.
Other than these issues, "Something Fierce" is a solid genre piece that attempts to break the mold of a genre that needs tweaking and succeeds on many levels. Drayer is an author who I plan on visiting again in another novel. This is a quick and surprisingly fun read. Try it out!
As the events (which I will not go into detail about here) unfold (as told effectively through the alternating points of view between the two lovers) in an increasingly frenzied manner, I could not put the book down, eyes racing down the pages more quickly than my head could keep up; that speaks volumes to Mr. Drayer's pacing and style, which keeps the action and plot evolving along with the romance between the two. That is, as the relationship deteriorates, the pace of the prose picks up as well. This is a difficult skill to master, and Drayer got it right.
All of this said, I could only give 3 stars for a few reasons. First, the alternating points of view that serve as chapters in the early portion of the novel ceases to be, which keeps the audience from understanding both sides of this romance. Instead of giving the readers a chance to understand the complex emotions of both characters, they simply receive one side, which unfortunately narrows the focus of the story. Second, for as smart as Kerry (the young college student) is presented in the novel, I never see evidence that she truly is as smart as told. I do not believe her actions or emotions prove her to be as intelligent as I would like for her to be.
Other than these issues, "Something Fierce" is a solid genre piece that attempts to break the mold of a genre that needs tweaking and succeeds on many levels. Drayer is an author who I plan on visiting again in another novel. This is a quick and surprisingly fun read. Try it out!
December 18, 2013
I loved this from the first word until the last. Great characters and such a twisted situation that it screams real life at you. Kerri was a trip and a half. I adored Seth for all his sweetness and how crazy he went for her. I think I loved him more when he finally realized she was no good and let her go for good. oh and what a departure! I laughed so hard and loud over her run in with Devil! I got this book on a whim and I'm so glad I did! Really, really good!
September 6, 2015
Actually, read the book last year and just opened it again to browse. gave it a 5 star when I read it and rated on Amazon so check there.
September 14, 2025
This took a bit to warm up to. I almost put this on my DNF shelf, but I am happy that I pushed through, what I felt, was the typical wet dream, cliché "older man-young girl/woman 'fling'."
After the cringy bits, I felt that it was a thoroughly well-written character study of dysfunction, psychological turmoil, manipulation, how it impacts a person's ability to get through daily life, and what it looks like getting to the other side of "rock bottom."
After the cringy bits, I felt that it was a thoroughly well-written character study of dysfunction, psychological turmoil, manipulation, how it impacts a person's ability to get through daily life, and what it looks like getting to the other side of "rock bottom."
November 3, 2013
David Drayer writes well. I love the way he layers words on the page. I liked Seth until he lost his head over a twenty-year-old. Folks may read it for the sex...If one enjoys reading about destructive relationships and middle-aged men without an ounce of integrity--this is a book for you. Forty-year old guy gets the hots for a twenty-year-old--wears his brain behind his zipper. Seth suffers from lack of focus and direction. The author did not give the twenty-year-old emotionally-disturbed girl any redeeming qualities. Used her as a caricature. So. A male-fantasy story. And the male manages to 'find himself'. La.
January 21, 2016
Good book! I highly recommend it!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews