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Ink
A tattoo can be a work of art...or a curse.
When Jason Harford meets the tattoo artist he nicknames Sailor, ink is the last thing on his mind, but he's hurt and angry from a recent loss and makes an impulsive decision to go under the needle. Sailor’s work is extraordinary, though, and the griffin tattoo is a thing of beauty, leaving Jason with no cause for regret. Until he hears the flutter of wings in the night. Finds drops of blood staining his sheets. Sees a brick wall where the tattoo shop should be. The truth is as sharp as a monster's talon, and if Jason can't find a way out, everything he knows will be destroyed and everyone he cares about will pay the price.
When Jason Harford meets the tattoo artist he nicknames Sailor, ink is the last thing on his mind, but he's hurt and angry from a recent loss and makes an impulsive decision to go under the needle. Sailor’s work is extraordinary, though, and the griffin tattoo is a thing of beauty, leaving Jason with no cause for regret. Until he hears the flutter of wings in the night. Finds drops of blood staining his sheets. Sees a brick wall where the tattoo shop should be. The truth is as sharp as a monster's talon, and if Jason can't find a way out, everything he knows will be destroyed and everyone he cares about will pay the price.
300 pages, Paperback
First published December 4, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
December 27, 2012
Damien Walters Grintalis' first novel builds on the promise shown in her published short stories: characterization, solid pacing and a very good sense of when and when not to show us the monster/evil/gore. With the exception of a few key cut-away scenes, Grintalis keeps us firmly in Jason's point of view throughout the book. Thanks to this, we understand why he reaches the (false) conclusions about what's going on that he reaches. In Jason, we're not given just another horror novel lead who is oblivious despite the signs -- we're given someone who sees logical explanations for what's going on around him, until he reaches a point where he realizes what we've known all along: nothing is as it seems. Jason is a character who starts out an emotional wreck, finds a new inner-strength, and then comes to doubt/lose that strength as the real world falls away and he has to make a choice to be the wreck or the strong one. This character arc for Jason is the heart of the book and what makes it not just another gory book about tattoos-gone-bad.
In fact, there isn't a lot of on-screen gore throughout most of the novel. We're given hints about what happens off-screen, but Jason largely sees only the aftermath of these events. This is key not only in allowing him to continue to be slightly oblivious to the truth, but also to the pacing of the novel and the ratcheting up of suspense that Grintalis does so well, and makes the use of gore later in the story that much more effective.
Several supporting characters are well-drawn (pun intended) as well: Jason's ex-wife Shelley, his mother and father, and his new girlfriend Mitch all add flavor to the story. if I have any complaint about the supporting cast, it's that so many of them are so well-crafted that it becomes extremely noticeable when a character is lacking in characterization: Alex, the gum-chewing kid from up the block, feels like a macguffin at the most, a place-holder at the least. For a character mentioned so often and who is a focus of Jason's rationalizations for what's going on, he feels the most "stock" of the supporting cast.
And then there's the tattoo artist Jason calls "Sailor," who goes by the name John S. Iblis. "Sailor" creeped me out from the first scene he appears in, and continued to be no less creepy (and in fact, far more so) as the book goes on. Most astute horror readers will recognize right away who "Sailor" actually is, but that doesn't take away from the story itself; who he is isn't the central mystery, after all. What he wants, and whether he'll get it or not, is the question. A question Grintalis answers solidly in a climactic scene that is a bloody, intense, tidal-shifting ride even though it never leaves one room.
In fact, there isn't a lot of on-screen gore throughout most of the novel. We're given hints about what happens off-screen, but Jason largely sees only the aftermath of these events. This is key not only in allowing him to continue to be slightly oblivious to the truth, but also to the pacing of the novel and the ratcheting up of suspense that Grintalis does so well, and makes the use of gore later in the story that much more effective.
Several supporting characters are well-drawn (pun intended) as well: Jason's ex-wife Shelley, his mother and father, and his new girlfriend Mitch all add flavor to the story. if I have any complaint about the supporting cast, it's that so many of them are so well-crafted that it becomes extremely noticeable when a character is lacking in characterization: Alex, the gum-chewing kid from up the block, feels like a macguffin at the most, a place-holder at the least. For a character mentioned so often and who is a focus of Jason's rationalizations for what's going on, he feels the most "stock" of the supporting cast.
And then there's the tattoo artist Jason calls "Sailor," who goes by the name John S. Iblis. "Sailor" creeped me out from the first scene he appears in, and continued to be no less creepy (and in fact, far more so) as the book goes on. Most astute horror readers will recognize right away who "Sailor" actually is, but that doesn't take away from the story itself; who he is isn't the central mystery, after all. What he wants, and whether he'll get it or not, is the question. A question Grintalis answers solidly in a climactic scene that is a bloody, intense, tidal-shifting ride even though it never leaves one room.
January 14, 2013
This would have made a nifty short story ... if it didn't stretch its already paper thin concept over hundreds of pages -- and if I hadn't already read that same story half a dozen times. From Bradbury's The Illustrated Man, to movies like Ninja Scroll, Elektra, The Rage: Carrie 2, The Tatooist, Comforting Skin, episodes of The X-files ... to a dozen other borderline plagiarism riffs (especially William Friedkin's Tales From The Crypt episode, "On A Deadman's Chest", which INK blatantly steals from, chapter to chapter, even down to gooey sequences in which the tattoo (in that case, a snake) bursts free from the lead character's flesh and tries to attack him in the finale ... Only this version was better because it was shorter and at least had some gritty sexuality to it).
It's well written, no denying it, but it's all so tired. None of the characters are particularly interesting either, especially the lead female who seems to serve little purpose other than emotional page filler because the male lead is so paper-thin. And I don't know if I'm the only one, but if I read yet another Devil's Bargain-you-should-have-read-the-fine-print story, I'll pull my hair out.
Plot move for plot move, I picked everything coming and each time this happened, it looked better in my head than what was revealed on the page. The moment I met the devil, I knew the book would end with some kind of epilogue in which it forebodes his evil continuing - this is but one of many, many by-the-number mechanisms wrought through this mess.
Sadly, this is the first miss that I've read on the Samhain Horror line. It angered and frustrated me - and even with the boredom, I only finished it because I wanted to know if every plot move I'd predicted eventuated. And they did.
INK is a waste of its namesake. Come on Samhain, you can do better!
It's well written, no denying it, but it's all so tired. None of the characters are particularly interesting either, especially the lead female who seems to serve little purpose other than emotional page filler because the male lead is so paper-thin. And I don't know if I'm the only one, but if I read yet another Devil's Bargain-you-should-have-read-the-fine-print story, I'll pull my hair out.
Plot move for plot move, I picked everything coming and each time this happened, it looked better in my head than what was revealed on the page. The moment I met the devil, I knew the book would end with some kind of epilogue in which it forebodes his evil continuing - this is but one of many, many by-the-number mechanisms wrought through this mess.
Sadly, this is the first miss that I've read on the Samhain Horror line. It angered and frustrated me - and even with the boredom, I only finished it because I wanted to know if every plot move I'd predicted eventuated. And they did.
INK is a waste of its namesake. Come on Samhain, you can do better!
March 4, 2013
It's a little tricky to review this book without giving too much away. I liked the characters and appreciated the time that was spent building them into people I could really care about. The setting was also well drawn and reminded me of some of my favorite early urban horror by Clive Barker. Grintalis has a sharp eye for description, a finely tuned ear for language, and a bloody finger on the pulse of horror. Ink takes a fresh premise grounded in realistic character drama, and then slowly and relentlessly pushes it to some surprising limits. My only criticism was that the end felt a little rushed and some things that could have been maximized for horrific effect were sort of glossed over in a way that made them a little awkward to visualize. I'm thinking mainly of the removal of the "suit" here. But the things poor Jason endured throughout... Look out for DWG; she's a merciless author and I can't wait to see what she does next.
December 28, 2012
Well, I'm a sucker for places that are there one moment, gone the next, like the lofty Rue d'Auseil in Lovecraft's "Music of Erich Zann." I'm also fond of deals with the devil, or a devil, as long as I'm not on the signing end of the contract. So I knew I had to read this book.
And I'm glad I did. Not only did I discover a new favorite fictional place, 1303 Shakespeare Street in Baltimore, but a new writer to watch. Damien Walters Grintalis has a lucid style, an ear for dialogue, and an eye for detail that serve her story well. She also seems gifted with that storytelling quality sometimes called profluence - once the hook is sunk, and she sinks it early, the reader is reeled surely, if not always comfortably, through the plot. After all, this is horror, and horror of a particularly unnerving sort. Bad enough when the monsters are out there. Much worse when they're under our own skin. Or, in this case, under Jason Harford's skin.
After his belittling wife leaves him, regular-guy Jason (I'm thinking John Krasinski) decides to assert his new-found independence by getting a tattoo. Cautionary tale: Choose your skin artist with care, and stay far away from a certain John S. Iblis. He inks a magnificent griffin into Jason's arm. The trouble is, the griffin doesn't always stay put. And that routine permission-to-tattoo form that Jason signed? Turns out that impression he had of ornate script shifting under the mundane typeface was more than an impression. The form was a contract, with some very nasty fine print boilerplate; once Jason puts his signature to it, he becomes fair game for the infernal Iblis, or Sailor as Jason thinks of him, after the sea-faring "avatar" in which Iblis first appears to him.
Where the novel excels is in the matter-of-fact accretion of details that create an increasingly dense atmosphere of supernatural malice and inescapable doom. First, there's that weird shift that occurs between 1301 and 1305 Shakespeare Street. Sometimes the door to 1303 is visible and accessible. Sometimes there is no 1303 Shakespeare, just a blank brick wall. Cool. The interior, also mutable, double cool. A passage near the end of the novel, in which a room in 1303 behaves like a stormy sea, its floorboards undulating in waves, is especially impressive. Then there is the escalation in body parts that Jason finds on his doorstep, starting with a cat's tail and ending in certain human relics. The sensitive, from dogs and young children to a minister, feel an aversion to Jason's tattoo. His dreams center more and more on a place of fire and ash and screaming torment. Finally he actually witnesses the griffin's exit from his skin to full-fledged and hungry life, and that exit is neither pretty nor painless. It is, however, extremely vivid.
Jason, who must eventually test his father's contention that he is strong inside, is a very sympathetic character, as is his new girlfriend Mitch. John S. Iblis, aka Sailor, is a formidable antagonist, with some enjoyable POV passages of his own. Jason's father, alive and dead, is a notable minor character, and it's his catchphrase "It is what it is" that will eventually prove the theme of the novel, for good or ill.
My quibbles with the novel are minor. I found some descriptions overlong or repetitive. Some scene sequences appeared with too much regularity (Jason dreams/Jason discovers new evidence of supernatural mayhem; Bad stuff happens/Jason loses consciousness), but that may also be the nature of the beast where this kind of story is concerned. Antagonism between Jason and his ex-wife never really becomes intense enough to justify the apparent consequences. The interaction between Jason and a teenage neighbor also seems a little thin. That girlfriend Mitch also has a griffin tattoo - and an amazing griffin painting done by her dead brother - are details that cry out for more significance than they receive (basically none) and might better be deleted. Descriptions of how things smelled were so frequent that I began to find them an affectation.
Overall, however, a fine scary read with a smart ending, solid writing and lasting resonance. I look forward to DWG's next book!
And I'm glad I did. Not only did I discover a new favorite fictional place, 1303 Shakespeare Street in Baltimore, but a new writer to watch. Damien Walters Grintalis has a lucid style, an ear for dialogue, and an eye for detail that serve her story well. She also seems gifted with that storytelling quality sometimes called profluence - once the hook is sunk, and she sinks it early, the reader is reeled surely, if not always comfortably, through the plot. After all, this is horror, and horror of a particularly unnerving sort. Bad enough when the monsters are out there. Much worse when they're under our own skin. Or, in this case, under Jason Harford's skin.
After his belittling wife leaves him, regular-guy Jason (I'm thinking John Krasinski) decides to assert his new-found independence by getting a tattoo. Cautionary tale: Choose your skin artist with care, and stay far away from a certain John S. Iblis. He inks a magnificent griffin into Jason's arm. The trouble is, the griffin doesn't always stay put. And that routine permission-to-tattoo form that Jason signed? Turns out that impression he had of ornate script shifting under the mundane typeface was more than an impression. The form was a contract, with some very nasty fine print boilerplate; once Jason puts his signature to it, he becomes fair game for the infernal Iblis, or Sailor as Jason thinks of him, after the sea-faring "avatar" in which Iblis first appears to him.
Where the novel excels is in the matter-of-fact accretion of details that create an increasingly dense atmosphere of supernatural malice and inescapable doom. First, there's that weird shift that occurs between 1301 and 1305 Shakespeare Street. Sometimes the door to 1303 is visible and accessible. Sometimes there is no 1303 Shakespeare, just a blank brick wall. Cool. The interior, also mutable, double cool. A passage near the end of the novel, in which a room in 1303 behaves like a stormy sea, its floorboards undulating in waves, is especially impressive. Then there is the escalation in body parts that Jason finds on his doorstep, starting with a cat's tail and ending in certain human relics. The sensitive, from dogs and young children to a minister, feel an aversion to Jason's tattoo. His dreams center more and more on a place of fire and ash and screaming torment. Finally he actually witnesses the griffin's exit from his skin to full-fledged and hungry life, and that exit is neither pretty nor painless. It is, however, extremely vivid.
Jason, who must eventually test his father's contention that he is strong inside, is a very sympathetic character, as is his new girlfriend Mitch. John S. Iblis, aka Sailor, is a formidable antagonist, with some enjoyable POV passages of his own. Jason's father, alive and dead, is a notable minor character, and it's his catchphrase "It is what it is" that will eventually prove the theme of the novel, for good or ill.
My quibbles with the novel are minor. I found some descriptions overlong or repetitive. Some scene sequences appeared with too much regularity (Jason dreams/Jason discovers new evidence of supernatural mayhem; Bad stuff happens/Jason loses consciousness), but that may also be the nature of the beast where this kind of story is concerned. Antagonism between Jason and his ex-wife never really becomes intense enough to justify the apparent consequences. The interaction between Jason and a teenage neighbor also seems a little thin. That girlfriend Mitch also has a griffin tattoo - and an amazing griffin painting done by her dead brother - are details that cry out for more significance than they receive (basically none) and might better be deleted. Descriptions of how things smelled were so frequent that I began to find them an affectation.
Overall, however, a fine scary read with a smart ending, solid writing and lasting resonance. I look forward to DWG's next book!
April 16, 2015
Ink is a slow burn kind of horror story, where you know pretty much right from the start that something bad is going to happen, but the question of when that bad thing will come is drawn out to prolong the tension. This can end up failing because if nothing happens for too long, the story can lose the tension it's invested. But Ink manages to dole out just enough of a sense of dread so that it never loses that building edge. When it finally peaks and starts to reveal the monsters, the tension is aided by a sense of real investment in the characters.
Ink is the story of Jason, a man whose wife has just left him. Worse, Shelley left him for her best friend Nicole, but with her departure, Jason is feeling relief more than anger. Their marriage had been all wrong long before the start of the story, making him feel trapped in a loveless relationship. Now that she's left, he's gone out to celebrate his freedom. This is how he meets "John S Iblis" in a bar, who Jason soon nicknames Sailor for his rolling walk. John talks Jason into getting a tattoo to celebrate his freedom. A pity then, that getting the tattoo is doing the exact opposite.
Soon after he gets the tattoo, Jason is having nightmares. Then he starts finding dead animal parts left on his doormat, and the next door neighbor's kid is giving him funny looks. From these smaller disasters, larger ones blossom and explode, and through it all, Jason is left wondering if he's going mad, He keeps insisting that his situation can't be real, until finally he is unable to deny that his tattoo is alive, and it is hungry for fresh flesh.
There's a lot to like in the story, with the details of the building John occupies described in an other worldly way that contrasts with the banal blandness of Jason's home and neighborhood. The scenes with Jason and his family and coworkers are often capped with shorter scenes of John watching and waiting for his latest victim to snap and come begging for help. In between these are moments of new love found with Mitch, a fan of tattoos who seems to come out of nowhere and give Jason a new sense of purpose after his wife has walked out on him. And all of this combines to form a nicely woven tale that starts of in the most mundane was and slowly escalates into violence and insanity.
I give Ink 5 stars and recommend it to fans of horror and dark fantasy.
Ink is the story of Jason, a man whose wife has just left him. Worse, Shelley left him for her best friend Nicole, but with her departure, Jason is feeling relief more than anger. Their marriage had been all wrong long before the start of the story, making him feel trapped in a loveless relationship. Now that she's left, he's gone out to celebrate his freedom. This is how he meets "John S Iblis" in a bar, who Jason soon nicknames Sailor for his rolling walk. John talks Jason into getting a tattoo to celebrate his freedom. A pity then, that getting the tattoo is doing the exact opposite.
Soon after he gets the tattoo, Jason is having nightmares. Then he starts finding dead animal parts left on his doormat, and the next door neighbor's kid is giving him funny looks. From these smaller disasters, larger ones blossom and explode, and through it all, Jason is left wondering if he's going mad, He keeps insisting that his situation can't be real, until finally he is unable to deny that his tattoo is alive, and it is hungry for fresh flesh.
There's a lot to like in the story, with the details of the building John occupies described in an other worldly way that contrasts with the banal blandness of Jason's home and neighborhood. The scenes with Jason and his family and coworkers are often capped with shorter scenes of John watching and waiting for his latest victim to snap and come begging for help. In between these are moments of new love found with Mitch, a fan of tattoos who seems to come out of nowhere and give Jason a new sense of purpose after his wife has walked out on him. And all of this combines to form a nicely woven tale that starts of in the most mundane was and slowly escalates into violence and insanity.
I give Ink 5 stars and recommend it to fans of horror and dark fantasy.
January 7, 2013
-"Tattoos were just ink on the skin; every sane person knew that. But his tattoo was something more than just ink."
Authors, if you think an awesome cover can't help sell a book, you're wrong. I usually don't read horror, but the intriguing cover art for "Ink" is what first drew my attention to this new novel.
Of course, then the original story line intrigued me, and I knew I had to read Ink.
I've had the pleasure of reading some shorter works from Damien Walters Grintalis, so I already knew that she had excellent writing chops and that I appreciated the artistry of her story telling. Ink does not disappoint in this department; the prose flows beautifully. Grintalis uses the environmental elements of a scene like odors, colors and weather patterns to weave subtle detail into her narrative.
I don't often read horror, but I was please to take a detour and rewarded with a very skillfully-written and entertaining story. I enthusiastically recommend this book.
Authors, if you think an awesome cover can't help sell a book, you're wrong. I usually don't read horror, but the intriguing cover art for "Ink" is what first drew my attention to this new novel.
Of course, then the original story line intrigued me, and I knew I had to read Ink.
I've had the pleasure of reading some shorter works from Damien Walters Grintalis, so I already knew that she had excellent writing chops and that I appreciated the artistry of her story telling. Ink does not disappoint in this department; the prose flows beautifully. Grintalis uses the environmental elements of a scene like odors, colors and weather patterns to weave subtle detail into her narrative.
I don't often read horror, but I was please to take a detour and rewarded with a very skillfully-written and entertaining story. I enthusiastically recommend this book.
December 26, 2012
Excerpt: "...The stink of rot and ruin, of old dreams, broken screams and wicked, dirty little things."
...One of Grintalis' great gifts is making the unbelievable, not only believable, but making it live and breathe. Her monsters are not cartoons, her demons are not dispelled with the light of day—all of her creations are real. Her love of horror fiction is obvious (I found myself reminded of Peter Straub), but her craft and imagination raises Ink beyond the deluge of lesser works in the genre. I love her short fiction, but Ink proves Grintalis can handle the novel length with ease. No doubt we have much to anticipate in this writer's career and I highly recommend Ink for anyone with a fondness for horror.
Please see the full review on my blog: http://rookberg.blogspot.com/2012/12/...
...One of Grintalis' great gifts is making the unbelievable, not only believable, but making it live and breathe. Her monsters are not cartoons, her demons are not dispelled with the light of day—all of her creations are real. Her love of horror fiction is obvious (I found myself reminded of Peter Straub), but her craft and imagination raises Ink beyond the deluge of lesser works in the genre. I love her short fiction, but Ink proves Grintalis can handle the novel length with ease. No doubt we have much to anticipate in this writer's career and I highly recommend Ink for anyone with a fondness for horror.
Please see the full review on my blog: http://rookberg.blogspot.com/2012/12/...
December 14, 2012
In this first-rate horror thriller, we follow the downward spiral of Jason’s life as he meets the mysterious Sailor and gets a tattoo that is not content remaining a mere skin illustration.
Grintalis’ keen prose keeps you turning pages as the horror of Sailor’s creation grows. She paints splendid descriptions and delivers crisp dialogue. When you can read and follow a page of conversation that has virtually no attribution, you know the author has mastered her creations’ voices.
Flawed, believable characters, a story that moves, and a satisfying ending. What more can you want? Of course you’ll never get a tattoo after reading this book, but your mother didn’t want you getting one anyway.
Grintalis’ keen prose keeps you turning pages as the horror of Sailor’s creation grows. She paints splendid descriptions and delivers crisp dialogue. When you can read and follow a page of conversation that has virtually no attribution, you know the author has mastered her creations’ voices.
Flawed, believable characters, a story that moves, and a satisfying ending. What more can you want? Of course you’ll never get a tattoo after reading this book, but your mother didn’t want you getting one anyway.
June 28, 2025
I struggled to finish this book as, while it was interesting at the beginning, it got boring soon enough. The plot was decent, but I felt the author took in the wrong direction.
January 15, 2013
Ink is the first published novel of Damien Walters Grintalis. In the past year or so I've enjoyed a number of beautiful short stories by Grintalis, most characterized by an especially lush and vivid quality to the language. Though I'm often reluctant to take a chance on first novels, as they're so often flawed in terms of structure and pacing, her short fiction convinced me Ink would be worth a try.
It's the story of Jason Harford, a young man devastated after having been left by his wife just before the novel begins. He sets out to soothe the pain of rejection, telling himself he's celebrating his newfound autonomy by doing things his controlling ex-wife never would've permitted. He gets drunk in a bar, and acquiesces to a stranger's suggestion that he should get a tattoo. The tattoo artist, a crusty and uncomfortably menacing old guy Jason calls "Sailor," asks Jason to sign a liability waiver before he proceeds. Jason starts to wonder what he's gotten himself into, but the resulting tattoo of a griffin is beautiful, exactly what he wants. It impresses his friends, even leads to a hookup with an attractive young lady named Mitch, who also happens to have a griffin tattoo.
Jason starts to think he's dodged the worst of the pain of being rejected by his wife. A cool new tattoo, more time to spend with his friends, even a cute young lady who fell into his lap, and seems really into him. Maybe things will turn out better for Jason, not worse… right?
Most readers will have guessed that the significance of Jason's tattoo goes more than skin deep. The name of the book, and the sinister nature of the tattoo artist (real name John S. Iblis) should make clear there's a price to pay, a reversal to come. The tattoo isn't quite what it seemed, and Jason hasn't seen the last of "Sailor."
Many writers whose short fiction is especially poetic or stylized often take a simpler approach when working at novel length, and that's the case here. The writing is deft and effective, with a straight-ahead style of minimal adornment, a focus on clarity. There's never any question what's happening, or why a character is doing what they are -- both frequent problems in first novels. The story is engaging from chapter one, and moves briskly through to the end without faltering or getting side-tracked.
Grintalis is certainly an emerging writer worth keeping an eye on. I'd love to see her approach the novel form using the more poetic, almost ornamented style of language of some of her short stories. In any case, Ink is a successful and most promising debut novel.
It's the story of Jason Harford, a young man devastated after having been left by his wife just before the novel begins. He sets out to soothe the pain of rejection, telling himself he's celebrating his newfound autonomy by doing things his controlling ex-wife never would've permitted. He gets drunk in a bar, and acquiesces to a stranger's suggestion that he should get a tattoo. The tattoo artist, a crusty and uncomfortably menacing old guy Jason calls "Sailor," asks Jason to sign a liability waiver before he proceeds. Jason starts to wonder what he's gotten himself into, but the resulting tattoo of a griffin is beautiful, exactly what he wants. It impresses his friends, even leads to a hookup with an attractive young lady named Mitch, who also happens to have a griffin tattoo.
Jason starts to think he's dodged the worst of the pain of being rejected by his wife. A cool new tattoo, more time to spend with his friends, even a cute young lady who fell into his lap, and seems really into him. Maybe things will turn out better for Jason, not worse… right?
Most readers will have guessed that the significance of Jason's tattoo goes more than skin deep. The name of the book, and the sinister nature of the tattoo artist (real name John S. Iblis) should make clear there's a price to pay, a reversal to come. The tattoo isn't quite what it seemed, and Jason hasn't seen the last of "Sailor."
Many writers whose short fiction is especially poetic or stylized often take a simpler approach when working at novel length, and that's the case here. The writing is deft and effective, with a straight-ahead style of minimal adornment, a focus on clarity. There's never any question what's happening, or why a character is doing what they are -- both frequent problems in first novels. The story is engaging from chapter one, and moves briskly through to the end without faltering or getting side-tracked.
Grintalis is certainly an emerging writer worth keeping an eye on. I'd love to see her approach the novel form using the more poetic, almost ornamented style of language of some of her short stories. In any case, Ink is a successful and most promising debut novel.
March 26, 2013
This novel has been getting a bit of notice since its release and it’s been sitting in my read pile for some time. Ink, the debut novel from Damien Walters Grintalis, is the story of an angry, bitter guy left with the dregs of a relationship gone wrong. His wife walks out on him and Jason, our protagonist, decides to begin living life on the wild side. He gets a tattoo from a mysterious stranger and that’s when things go from bad to much worse.
From the initial reviews, I was excited about this one. I’ve read a few short stories from Grintalis and I like her writing. It’s always been crisp and she gives us a great twist. Halfway through Ink however, I really felt as if I was reading another author’s work. Where was the characterization? The bizarre angles and strange perspectives? We are introduced to Jason with his use of the word “bitch” to describe his wife. Not a good start and it doesn’t get any better. The female counterpoint, Jason’s new love interest, serves only as the “golly really Jason” and “you can do it Jason” emotional prop. I was really surprised that a female writer came up so short on depth here. The narrative itself is one more “the devil made me do it” tale. Jason of course has made an inadvertent pact with Mr. Devil himself and his tattoo comes to life in the end to destroy him. A friend pointed out that this is the exact same plot as a Tales From the Crypt story, including the note-for-note ending.
This was a very disappointing debut from an author that held promise in her short stories. A weary tale complete with the hint of a sequel, it never moved beyond the cliché horror tropes. I struggled to finish it. Grintalis has the talent to give us challenging, intense horror. This is not it. I do hope that in round two she finds her voice.
From the initial reviews, I was excited about this one. I’ve read a few short stories from Grintalis and I like her writing. It’s always been crisp and she gives us a great twist. Halfway through Ink however, I really felt as if I was reading another author’s work. Where was the characterization? The bizarre angles and strange perspectives? We are introduced to Jason with his use of the word “bitch” to describe his wife. Not a good start and it doesn’t get any better. The female counterpoint, Jason’s new love interest, serves only as the “golly really Jason” and “you can do it Jason” emotional prop. I was really surprised that a female writer came up so short on depth here. The narrative itself is one more “the devil made me do it” tale. Jason of course has made an inadvertent pact with Mr. Devil himself and his tattoo comes to life in the end to destroy him. A friend pointed out that this is the exact same plot as a Tales From the Crypt story, including the note-for-note ending.
This was a very disappointing debut from an author that held promise in her short stories. A weary tale complete with the hint of a sequel, it never moved beyond the cliché horror tropes. I struggled to finish it. Grintalis has the talent to give us challenging, intense horror. This is not it. I do hope that in round two she finds her voice.
May 20, 2017
You like monsters?
You like cringe-worthy horror?
Then you'll enjoy INK, the debut novel by talented author Damien Walters Grintalis.
Like so many classic Leisure books of old, INK takes a simple, straightforward plot and runs full speed into gore, death, and monsters. The protagonist, on the rebound from a bad marriage, runs into a shady tattoo artist named Sailor. With a bit of liquid courage and rebellion flowing through his blood, our newly-divorced protag has Sailor ink a beautiful rendition of a powerful griffin.
Between the title of the book and the synopsis on the back, you *know* what happens next. And it ain't pretty.
Grintalis displays a deft touch building tension throughout. This strength plays to her favor in a manic and bloody climax involving the protagonist, his girlfriend, a griffin, and Sailor. The author also does some nice character building, forming realistic familial and romantic relationships.
The book occasionally suffers problems typical of first novels. Often, I found myself thinking "Hm, didn't I *just* read this observation five pages earlier?" The narrative could have used some polish, but the book moves along at such a brisk pace, it's not problematic to the story.
Until INK, I had known Damien Walters Grintalis solely as an author of short fiction (something she is gifted at writing, do search for her works if you have the time). With INK, it is evident that the author will bloom into an excellent novelist as well. I look forward to her next book.
You like cringe-worthy horror?
Then you'll enjoy INK, the debut novel by talented author Damien Walters Grintalis.
Like so many classic Leisure books of old, INK takes a simple, straightforward plot and runs full speed into gore, death, and monsters. The protagonist, on the rebound from a bad marriage, runs into a shady tattoo artist named Sailor. With a bit of liquid courage and rebellion flowing through his blood, our newly-divorced protag has Sailor ink a beautiful rendition of a powerful griffin.
Between the title of the book and the synopsis on the back, you *know* what happens next. And it ain't pretty.
Grintalis displays a deft touch building tension throughout. This strength plays to her favor in a manic and bloody climax involving the protagonist, his girlfriend, a griffin, and Sailor. The author also does some nice character building, forming realistic familial and romantic relationships.
The book occasionally suffers problems typical of first novels. Often, I found myself thinking "Hm, didn't I *just* read this observation five pages earlier?" The narrative could have used some polish, but the book moves along at such a brisk pace, it's not problematic to the story.
Until INK, I had known Damien Walters Grintalis solely as an author of short fiction (something she is gifted at writing, do search for her works if you have the time). With INK, it is evident that the author will bloom into an excellent novelist as well. I look forward to her next book.
April 4, 2016
Spoiler alert! I really liked the beginning of this book. It was a unique story about a tattoo but my delight started to falter when the antagonist was identified as Satan/Lucifer/Devil. The original myth about Lucifer is not that he was an evil degenerate soul but rather that he was rebellious and thought he deserved more. He doesn't become evil until Dante and Milton show up. Until then he is mostly guilty of hubris. I rather like the original myth but the new identity, in my mind, is just a way for believers to avoid responsibility for their actions; blame it on the devil. And the deceiver in this story is straight out of the Qur'an which added some confusion as well. Iblis is a Jinn and Lucifer is an angel. Yeah, I know I'm knit picking here but I'm a stickler for research. I was still hanging on because I love this writer's more recent stories until she just dropped me at the end. What happened? No one believes that tearing up a piece of paper would stop a Jinn. And what happened to Mitch? Did he lose his job? If he defeated the Jinn then why is his arm still itching? The story idea had so much potential but it fell apart at the end. I'm almost certain the only way to defeat evil is through trickery. That doesn't mean you shouldn't read the story. You might like it and I guarantee you will like the short story collection and the new novel "Paper Tiger."
March 23, 2014
I was disappointed in this book. I only searched/found/read this book because I recently started reading the short stories posted on dailysciencefiction.com (org? not sure). I read a story by Damien Walters and I absolutely loved it. I searched for more of her stories on the site and I loved them all! This story though, more... religion...? than science fiction, I did not care for. Mostly I did not care for it because I feel it was more fluff than actual story. It seemed she felt she had to add more words, more descriptions to EVERYTHING to make it big enough to be a book rather than a short story. After reading that something felt/tasted/smelled/looked like "rot and despair" "sadness and gloom" "warmth and death" "death and destruction" 4938943859 times, I almost put the book down, I was at my wits end!!! You can't taste "regret" or any of the other things she wanted you to try to understand but couldn't.
Within the first chapter I already predicted what would happen. The ending was quite a surprise because you would never have thought it would happen, so I will give it 2 stars for that.
Overall, I felt like I was trapped in this story, it felt claustrophobic and like what the main character was living - a never ending nightmare.
Within the first chapter I already predicted what would happen. The ending was quite a surprise because you would never have thought it would happen, so I will give it 2 stars for that.
Overall, I felt like I was trapped in this story, it felt claustrophobic and like what the main character was living - a never ending nightmare.
April 8, 2013
Jason Harford is going through some big life changes. When his wife leaves him for her best friend, he decides it’s time to start living for himself … and figuring out just who that is. Doing all the things Shelley would never have approved of him doing when they were married seems to be helping; first stop, a bar Shelley wouldn’t be caught dead in. Second stop, the shop of the mysterious sailor-turned-tattoo-artist he met at the bar. He’d always wanted a tattoo…
Jason’s life has been turned completely upside down. Suddenly, he’s hearing strange noises in the night. Grisly ‘gifts’ are being left on his doormat. Kids and animals he’s known all their lives are treating him like a stranger. As if all that weren’t bad enough, he’s pretty sure he’s having an allergic reaction to his new ink.
Read the rest at http://allwaysunmended.com/2013/04/08...
Jason’s life has been turned completely upside down. Suddenly, he’s hearing strange noises in the night. Grisly ‘gifts’ are being left on his doormat. Kids and animals he’s known all their lives are treating him like a stranger. As if all that weren’t bad enough, he’s pretty sure he’s having an allergic reaction to his new ink.
Read the rest at http://allwaysunmended.com/2013/04/08...
July 8, 2018
I won this book at a giveaway and I very much enjoyed reading it.
It did not scare me while reading it, which is surprising considering I'm a wuss when it comes to Horror, but right after I've finished it, I did feel a little bit creeped out to be in the dark.
I thought that the story was engaging and creative since the beginning. Although the villain in the story is a not a normal person, I really liked the detail the author added to the villain (he "rolled"). There are real people out there like that, and it made the villain seem a little more human. Like a normal person. It made me think that if I went out and saw someone who "rolled", that person could be kind of like the villain of this book. That is what made the story a little bit creepy to me.
It did not scare me while reading it, which is surprising considering I'm a wuss when it comes to Horror, but right after I've finished it, I did feel a little bit creeped out to be in the dark.
I thought that the story was engaging and creative since the beginning. Although the villain in the story is a not a normal person, I really liked the detail the author added to the villain (he "rolled"). There are real people out there like that, and it made the villain seem a little more human. Like a normal person. It made me think that if I went out and saw someone who "rolled", that person could be kind of like the villain of this book. That is what made the story a little bit creepy to me.
June 13, 2016
The idea for this story was fascinating but I found myself thinking, "can it be executed properly?" I mean, certain things may sound like a fascinating concept for a story, especially a horror story, but it can be an entirely different thing to actually pull it off and translate it in a way that doesn't seem cheesy. Damien Walters Grintalis does a marvelous job with this tale. All of my doubts were washed away when I began reading and the vivid details made the story seem to leap off the pages. If you have thought of getting a tattoo, I'd make sure you think it through and don't read this book until afterwords; it might scare you off from the idea of ink. ;) Oh, and don't forget to read the fine print.
January 8, 2013
This book I won on a giveaway at Goodreads.
Plays with your imagination and brings your fears to life.
Being a fantasy novel readers myself, I started reading with an open mind and wanted to expand my experience. This novel was a slow reading book but once you get further along in the story line it focuses your imagination on the shadows in corners and the slightest sounds out of earshot. The main character was paranoid and borderline delusional. After reading this book at night, I found myself feeling the same as the character and jumping at the slightest noises and movements in the room. For any fan of horror books, this book is definitely one to read.
Plays with your imagination and brings your fears to life.
Being a fantasy novel readers myself, I started reading with an open mind and wanted to expand my experience. This novel was a slow reading book but once you get further along in the story line it focuses your imagination on the shadows in corners and the slightest sounds out of earshot. The main character was paranoid and borderline delusional. After reading this book at night, I found myself feeling the same as the character and jumping at the slightest noises and movements in the room. For any fan of horror books, this book is definitely one to read.
January 18, 2013
A wonderful well written novel in the horror genre. Jason and Shelley have recently gone their separate ways in their relationship. Jason visits a seedy bar to rant and drink. He meets a man called Sailor. Jason's ex didn't like tattoos. Sailor does tattoos. Days later Jason decides to visit Sailor and get a tattoo. A little revenge against an uptight Shelley! Jason ignores a few watchout hints and gets his tattoo. Very soon his life spirals down, down, far down! Terrible things happen to those around him and to him. A horrid death begins to look like a possibility.
I won this from Goodreads.
I won this from Goodreads.
December 19, 2012
I received a copy of this book through a GoodReads giveaway.
I liked this book. The book is about a guy named Jason going through a rough time - his wife just left him for her girlfriend. He meets up with a guy he calls Sailor who is a tattoo artist. Soon Jason finds himself with a new tattoo - one that isn't all that it seems.
The book kept me interested. I didn't want to put it down to see how Jason would discover the true nature of his tattoo and what he would do to try to fix things.
Thanks Damien for the book and the good read!
I liked this book. The book is about a guy named Jason going through a rough time - his wife just left him for her girlfriend. He meets up with a guy he calls Sailor who is a tattoo artist. Soon Jason finds himself with a new tattoo - one that isn't all that it seems.
The book kept me interested. I didn't want to put it down to see how Jason would discover the true nature of his tattoo and what he would do to try to fix things.
Thanks Damien for the book and the good read!
February 12, 2013
I have to say the story line was awesome! I have never read a book w/such a bazaar story line. I enjoyed the final chapters when it was all coming to the end when he (Jason) figured out what had happened and what he needed to do. I have to admit, it was a little gruesome, but not that bad that I couldn't read through it. I am ink free and will probably remain ink free! Overall I liked the book, just got a little bored 'bout halfway through and glad I kept reading. Keep on writing Mrs Grintalis I will be watching for future books!
May 22, 2017
Damien Walters Grintalis has taken a very basic premise and made it an interesting and solid read. The story is about Jason, freshly separated, ready to not give a fuck and take back control over his life. The first thing he does is getting a tattoo. And not just any tattoo. A griffin that comes with an enormous amount of detail and so it's no surprise that Jason soon finds out that the griffin is not just a tattoo.
Grintalis writes excellent dialogues and keeps the reader interested and while this kind of horror is not usually my cup of tea, I was entertained for the duration.
Grintalis writes excellent dialogues and keeps the reader interested and while this kind of horror is not usually my cup of tea, I was entertained for the duration.
March 9, 2013
I liked the IDEA of this book more than the book itself. And I agree with what another reviewer wrote: that this book would have been better as a short story. The concept is great... a man, recovering from the fact that his wife unexpectedly leaves him, gets a tattoo and later finds out that the tattoo is alive. The book then goes on to play out the story and the consequences of this fact (I'll leave it at that to not write any spoilers). For me, some of the ensuing details are unexpected, but I felt that the general plotline was totally expected and I could have easily guessed the end.
January 25, 2015
Probably the weakest of the recent Samhain releases, which is surprising as I've read a couple of the authors short stories, and they were mostly fine. This however is really derivative, predictable, and boring. I had to force myself through it - just to get to a conclusion I visualized from the beginning. But it is nicely written, though. It's just a shame about the content. I think it would've made a better short story, but that wouldn't work either, as it'd be like a billion other short stories and short films and anthology shows about the exact same thing.
December 26, 2012
I just finished reading this book a fw days ago, I found the book to be good but it was not one that you can keep reading all the way through. I found myself putting it down alot, it took a long tim getting to the main plot of the story. The book had a lot of Unnecessary parts. Although i did enjoy reading it, it is not one of my fav. To the people who are looking forward in reading it be my guest but hopfully your not dissapointed.
July 20, 2018
Ink was a solid book. I enjoyed reading it and at times struggled to put it down, however the conclusion was a little disappointing. I particularly enjoyed the descriptive details given, there was never a point where i was bored because of the detail, but enough was always given to paint a picture of what was happening. Overall, it was a solid read.
March 22, 2013
This book was OK I am not really a horror reader as such I must say, The story itself was not bad but I could just not like the main charater, I found him to just annoying. Maybe if I was more into this type of storyline it may have made a difference in my opinion but I doubt it.
Want to read
April 14, 2012I HAVE to read this after the amazing query letter I saw on AW.
June 25, 2015
creepy, good - I admit I've been looking at tattoos a little differently since reading it. Silly, I know, but.....
December 26, 2012
Very vivid and detailed. Scary as hell! Makes you think twice about ever wanting to get a tattoo!
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