Ugly As Sin

by James Newman

Nick Bullman was a wrestling superstar. His alter ego, The Widowmaker, was the monster heel all the marks loved to hate.

Now, after a brutal encounter with two psychotic fans left his face horribly disfigured, he's just a monster.

Yanked from the spotlight and thrust into the shadows, these days Nick tries to live the life of an average Joe. He avoids mirrors. He's angry. He's alone. And he likes it just fine that way...

Until he receives a desperate phone call from a young lady he barely knows--his daughter.

For the first time in over thirty years, Nick returns to his hometown of Midnight, North Carolina. There he will come face to face with old demons, forge new friendships, and make enemies far more dangerous than those who ruined his face, all in a quest to save the granddaughter he's never met...and maybe find a little bit of redemption along the way.

Ugly As Sin is an electrifying tale of "white-trash noir," a taut page-turner that skates the razor edge of a familiar, horrifying reality. At times heartbreaking, funny, and terrifyingly suspenseful, Ugly As Sin is Newman's best work to date.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Novels

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2013

Reviews

[megs_bookrack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ohhhh, this book!



One could lovingly classify this as 'Hillbilly Noir', this story shook feelings from me I didn't know I could experience whilst reading!



The story follows a physically and emotionally damaged protagonist, Nick 'The Widowmaker' Bullman, as he tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter.

I would describe this story to be gritty and tragic but oddly full of hope and humor as well. It feels real.

The story of Nick Bullman is beautifully moving. I felt such sympathy for him. He's a good guy who had his outward 'humanity' stripped away from him due to an event completely outside of his control.

After this horrific event, which is on page at the start of the story, his entire life is turned upside down and when we meet him, he has truly hit bottom.



I feel at its core this is a story of love, redemption and reconciliation. The writing style is fluid and compelling; it kept me glued to the pages. Ultimately, what I took from this book is that if you can salvage anything from the ashes of your past mistakes, do it.

Our relationships we form in life are truly what matter. They are what makes life worth living.

Well done, Mr. Newman, all the stars to you!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Bullman used to be The Widowmaker, the baddest man in sports entertainment. That is, until two crazed wrestling fans kidnapped him and cut his face off. Now he's disfigured and drifting through life after assaulting his former boss, Lance McDougall. When a daughter he hadn't seen in years tells him the granddaughter he never knew existed is missing, Nick goes looking to find the people who took her...

This is the nineteenth book in my Kindle Unlimited Experiment. For the 30 day trial, I'm only reading books that are part of the program and keeping track what the total cost of the books would have been.

There isn't a ton of crime fiction featuring a former pro-wrestler as the main character. In fact, Hoodtown is the only other one I can think of. Since this one is redneck noir with a former wrestler as the lead character, it was right in my wheelhouse.

The title, Ugly as Sin, seems to refer to Nick Bullman's disfigured state, but it also refers to the ugliness Nick encounters while looking for his granddaughter. Nick enters a world of meth, crack, prostitution, and pedophiles. Nick approaches the mystery of his missing daughter much like he did his wrestling matches, like a battering ram knocking aside all obstacles.

There's not a lot more I want to reveal. The main villain is easy to hate and the cops turn out not to be totally clueless assholes for once. I loved that the town's theater was called the Lansdale Drive-In.

I wanted to give this a five but I had to dock it a bit for something really illogical that happened near the end. Other than that, this book was pretty great. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Current Kindle Unlimited Savings Total: $108.40.

[Char · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

First off, take a look at this great cover! The reader has no idea what it is supposed to mean or represent, but all of that becomes clear as the story continues. I have always loved covers that represent some aspect of the story in a real and meaningful way. This one does that, and does it well.

Now, regarding the story. I thought it was quite a unique one. Books about former professional wrestling stars are normally not something that would interest me at all. But here, in our protagonist Nick, we have a man who has been to hell and back and is still hanging on. Just barely, but he is. Nick's wrestling career as the "Widowmaker" goes right into the garbage can after a severe criminal incident changes his life forever. Since during that career he invested none of his time or love on a family, he finds himself truly alone and lost. Then he receives a phone call from his daughter and his life, again, changes forever.

I loved the character of Nick. He was an excellent protagonist. Humble, flawed and honest. The reader cannot help but root for him. The antagonists in this novel are not so well fleshed out or clear, but I didn't need them to be. I knew enough about them to hate their guts as much as Nick did, and I wanted to see them buy the farm in a big way.

Not everything in this story turned out as I expected and I love when that happens. The only nitpicking complaint that I have about this book is that the ending wrapped up a little too quickly for me. I might have enjoyed letting it play out just a little bit longer. It really is a nitpicking complaint, so it resulted in only a half star deduction.

Another thing that I really enjoyed was listening to the playlist that James has created for this novel. You can find the playlist at his blog here:http://southernslick.blogspot.com/201... This is the first time I've read a book with an accompanying musical playlist. As a HUGE fan of the blues and rock n roll in general, this really worked for me. It added a musical level to the book that I've never known before. Some of these songs were mentioned in the book and some of them just added to the overall atmosphere of the story. I think that having a playlist for the book was a brilliant idea. I hope that anyone who reads this story will check out some of these songs and experience it all together as I did.

If you have not read anything by Mr. Newman, I suggest you start. I've read almost everything he has available in digital form and I've not yet been disappointed. I highly recommend this novel for fans of horror, humor, humanity and reading, in general. It's not easily categorized as the horror is sometimes subtle and not only directed at the villains, but on certain aspects of society as well. Maybe I will just say "Highly Recommended" and leave it at that.

[Adam Light · Rating 5 out of 5]

I woke up early as hell this morning an when I couldn't get back to sleep, I grabbed my NOOK and read the second half of this remarkable book.

I was recently introduced to James Newman's works when I read his spectacular Animosity, and after I posted my review, my friend, Charlene gifted me a copy of this one for my birthday. What a great present it turned out to be.

This book was unputdownable. From the openig sequence to the last word this story moved at a pace that required seatbelts.

The plot centered around ex-pro wrestler Nick Bullman, AKA The Widowmaker", at the end of his career after an extremely unfortunate meeting with two demented wrestling fans who believe The Widowmaker betrayed them. Bullman is subjected to an an unspeakable form of justice, and forced out of the public eye.

What came next was the stuff of nightmares. Nick's daughter contacts him to ask for help finding his missing granddaughter, and he obliges her, returning to his hometown only to find that he may have gotten in way over his head. But to Nick, it doesn't matter. He has a newfound mission in life; to do what the local law couldn't or wouldn't do: find Sophie and punish those who dared to mess around with his family.

I think what struck me the most about this book was how Newman created an antihero that was flawed but still capable of salvaging himself. Some of the situations are unbelievable, but the people are not. Every one of them resounds with a realism far too rare in today's horror fiction world.

I don't want to spoil anything, so I will leave it at that.

The only thing left to say is "read this book!"
Highly recommended!

[Lady MacDeath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this was such a great thriller, from James Newman, whom I had never read before, although I’m planning on reading everything of his, after this.

Nick Bullman a.k.a. ‘The Widow Maker’ is a well known wrestler with the GWA. Three years ago, he was attacked and almost killed in an extremely violent attack which left his face, hideously disfigured.

One day he receives a desperate phone call from his estranged daughter, whom he hasn’t seen for many years...his teenaged granddaughter has been abducted by thugs who murdered the girl’s drug dealing step-father. Nick wastes no time in driving back to his old home town to aid his daughter, and find his granddaughter whom he has never met.

I didn’t know what I was expecting before I opened this book, but was more than pleasantly surprised. I was enraptured from beginning to end, and I can clearly see that this could be made into a movie someday...I would be first in line to see it!!

Highly recommended!!

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to BookSirens and the author for sending me this free ARC, which I gladly leave this voluntary review.

[Gregor Xane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ugly As Sin's main flaw is that it's not Animosity. Going in, I was anticipating a visit to the dentist after hours of teeth-grinding tension. However, 'Sin' didn't provide nearly the same levels of suspense as Animosity did. And not only did this book not possess Animosity's greatest asset, it unfortunately also had that book's greatest flaw. I'm talking about the bad guys doing stuff that was stupid or unbelievable, seemingly, only so that the protagonist (or the author) wouldn't have to work so hard in the end.

Now, the book didn't totally lack in suspense. It was suspenseful. Just not as suspenseful as Animosity. It was a quick read, fast-paced, and highly entertaining. The protagonist was a great big jerk, who was also a sympathetic character. (Nice work, Mr. Newman.) I also liked the villain of the piece and his motivation. There were a lot of weird touches in this book, too, peculiar little character ticks and stage business that made this a richer experience than your typical work of noir fiction.

Recommended.

P.S. For those (named Charlene) who might think this review is negative, I'll have you know that I already bought Newman's The Wicked and have it queued up on the old Kindle reading device.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've come to realize that the one thing James Newman's stories have in common is that he doesn't use "characters", he uses REAL people. The people in Ugly As Sin feel as real to me as people I've known for years. Newman infuses his stories with life--I have yet to read a book of his that didn't grab me in an emotional context. I FELT for these people, so much so that it's hard to take a break and go back to your day-to-day activities without knowing what is in store for them.

This story starts out explosively with Nick (aka "The Widow-maker") getting ambushed by two delusional wrestling fans. After that, things take a decidedly downhill turn for the worse. Without any spoilers, I can honestly say that this was a brutally shocking, emotional story that will stay with you long after you've finished. The "people" here have a real presence, and will not simply leave your mind after you've moved on to the next book. This is the type of story that you will keep going back to, both mentally, and to re-read.

A solid 5 stars.

Highly recommended.

[Chris Berko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for revenge stories. I root for underdogs and when people get their comeuppance for dastardly deeds, it makes me stand up and cheer. The description of this book and previous reviewers did a good job of masking what really goes on in these pages. I expected a wrestler that was wreaking havoc on those that wronged him and body slamming his way to righting these past wrongs. While that is sorta what goes on it doesn't give away what REALLY is going on or the depths of emotion and depravity conveyed while doing so. I expected a little bit of corniness, a little bit of campiness, even a little bit of "this doesn't take itself too seriously" all while the body count rises and the trail of destruction grows. I was wrong. This is a serious heartfelt revenge tale that makes you care about the people involved and what they are going through and while not too long in length, it takes its time letting us get to know and get in the heads of the characters which, for me at least, made it more real and raised it above the cartoon-y expectations I had placed on it. But don't get me wrong, there is revenge to be had and violence to be dished out but it is not gratuitous nor unnecessarily over the top (see what I did there) and my "dammit those guys need to get what is coming to them" itch was scratched. My only complaint, and this is the reason it was not a five star read for me, was the final showdown ended too abruptly. I would have liked to have read a couple more pages of the baddies in charge suffering a little more extensively, but that is my personal opinion. 4.5 stars rounded up and in the end a very satisfying read, indeed.

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up.

Nick Bullman makes a surprisingly compelling main character, I had expected him to be somewhat caricatural, but he actually comes across as a flawed but self-aware guy who is just trying to cope with his circumstances, you want to root for him. That's something that carries across with almost everyone in this book, from the drug addicted neighbor to the down on her luck daughter and even the cops, they're all trying to be decent people and even when they fall short, they're still very much human. The villains on the other hand were easy to hate and sometimes it's good for the soul to have a bad guy you don't have any sympathy for, so I enjoyed that.

For all Nick is a big guy with a potentially scary physique he is also not unreasonably powerful or immune to pain, it made for interesting fight scenes. While his disfigurement plays a role in the story it isn't treated in a way that I found over the top, I have read too many stories when even a fairly minor physical difference is treated like it's the absolute end of the world by everyone, so I really enjoyed the way it was dealt with here, neither tiptoed around or world ending.

The story is pretty polished and, in my opinion, there isn't much of any useless fluff left so the story moves along at a steady pace and characterization happens rather organically alongside the story. The relationships between the characters seemed a little unwarranted at times but otherwise it made for a satisfying and consistently entertaining read.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book through BookSirens.

[Jon Recluse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smooth as moonshine Southern white trash noir that hits like a piledriver. Combining edge of your seat suspense, and characters that will rent space in your head for the rest of your life, this book drags you in, beats you bloody and leaves you begging for more.

Nick Bullman is a character who is bigger than life, monolithic in stature. Scarred, flawed, yet possessing that one element that raises the bar....a soul. He looms large over a literary landscape of two dimensional tough guys, and stands shoulder to shoulder with Chandler's Marlowe, Vachss' Burke and Lansdale's Hap and Leonard, an iconic figure I hope to see more of in the future.

Highest possible recommendation.

[Vicki Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had the right mix of horror, suspense and mystery. It was about a wrestler who endured a horror beyond anything you can imagine. He is now past his prime and gets a call from his past. The book began so shockingly. My mouth was hanging open and I was hooked.
I loved the story of why he needed to go back to the past. It was suspenseful and fast paced. The characters felt real and I found myself liking ones I probably wouldn't like in real life! There are more than a few I wouldn't mind reading about in another book! (Hint...hint...)
The ending was full horror and evil. I was hanging on every word at the description of the horror room. I thought it ended well, without being "perfect". To me the ending was more real.
A fantastic book, by a great author. I highly recommend this one!

[Paul Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugly as Sin is a tale of redemption, the tale of a man who has all but ignored his daughter for thirty years, he didn’t even know he had a granddaughter but when the time comes, he is the only one who can save the girl he’s never even met.

Nick Bullman is a wrestler, nicknamed the Widowmaker, he’s the chief bad guy of the federation, just shy of 7ft and 300 lbs, a big man but this doesn’t stop him being beat up and his face all but carved from his body. The full extent of the damage is drip fed later in the book but things deteriorate fast when he attacks the chairman of the federation over his plans for the death of the Widowmaker and the birth of a new super villain.

Now broke after being sued, Nick gets a call out of the blue from his daughter, she desperately needs his help to find the kidnapped grandchild he never knew about.

Here follows a brutal journey of discovery and you are bound to each step as he attempts to redress past absence, a past he should have been part of. Nick is still a famous man, a man not easily ignored but he has to live with people’s repulsion and the heart break of a once good looking man that no one can now stand to look at. He attacks his search somewhat like a bull in a china shop and it is amusing when he tries to creep through a house. Really enjoyed this, the characters were substantial and genuine, the pace was frantic and the plot compelling. Recommended.

[11811 (Eleven) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just an awesome story. Simple as that. The protagonist was very likable as were a number of other characters like Leon, whom I would love to have coldbeer with despite all the man's flaws. This book had no trouble fitting in the horror genre but it also excelled as a mystery. I didn't know wtf was going on until near the end but the path leading there was brilliant, engrossing, and full of surprises.

Highly recommended.

[SUSAN *Nevertheless,she persisted* · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Hillman was a great character,full of flaws yet,somehow very relatable. The writing flowed at a good pace,this little book is a winner.

[Alex | | findingmontauk1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Newman, y’all! If you are not reading him or have not heard of him, then you need to rectify that! This is my fourth book of his I have read and they have all been 5-star reads! And bonus: he’s super cool and interactive on Instagram and Twitter! Ok, so back to this book. The cover lists it as “White Trash Noir,” and I had no idea what that meant.

But after about 30 pages or so I was able to. Unlike Newman’s other books I have read, this one is not “super horror”-esque, for lack of better terminology. This reads like a pulpy, shocking, gory thriller. And it’s about a disfigured ex-pro wrestler in some town with strip clubs with no names, trailer parks, and criminals like “Coko Puff” and “Daddy.” Make a little more sense now?

This. Book. Is. Incredible! I really would like Nick Bullman to become the lead in a SERIES of books by Newman (wink wink if you are reading this, sir!!!) He was living the high life. Famous. Seemingly good looking. A ladies man. You name it. Basically he was a wrestler who could do whatever he wanted and get away with anything. Kind of like Hulk Hogan or John Cena.

Then he pulled the shit straw and ended turned out a man who reminded me of Mickey Rourke’s character in Sin City. A teddy bear of a man underneath a haggard facade. Someone you would not necessarily want to strike up a conversation with and stuff, but also DEFINITELY not someone you would ever want to piss off for fear of dismemberment, lots of pain, and death.

Newman has a way of telling incredible, page-turning stories. I fly through his books effortlessly because of how enriching the stories are. An author I randomly ran across on Instagram, James Newman has worked himself into my top favorite authors list (a list which, might I add, includes Sai King, himself!)

I was excited to discover that Newman has another side to him other than horror. While I love horror and HIS horror, knowing that he has another layer to his writing just means that he can write THAT much more and tell so many more stories.

So.. what have we learned? Newman is multi-faceted in his writing genres. He can drop Easter eggs to other books of his and make a reader giddy. And his books, horror or pulpy, white trash noir, offer a glimpse into the darkest parts of our humanity. You know who else does that? Stephen King. Yea, I SAID IT. AND I WON’T TAKE IT BACK! GO read him!

[The Shayne-Train · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an extremely entertaining and well-written piece of grit-lit/hillbilly noir. We follow a washed-up (and VERY damaged) professional wrestler as he tries to come to terms with his past, and rescue someone he cares about from the grips of evil.

I was first introduced to Nick "The Widowmaker" Bullman in the wrestling anthology Wrestle Maniacs (which I also cannot recommend strongly enough). Now, that story came AFTER this novel, but it in no way spoiled anything, and made the novel any less enjoyable.

The author really knows what he's doing with character, action, and humor. And the FEELZ. Those were unexpected, but got me right in that "daddy/daughter" button in my heart.

I suggest anyone that enjoys well-written crime novels to take a chunk out of THIS one.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Bullman was once a famous wrestling star. He went by the name of The Widowmaker. Two thugs went after Bullman in a dark deserted alleyway and beat him so badly that he almost died. The one time famous Widowmaker could not be recognized and his career went down the tubes. To most people his was just a scary monster that kept to himself. Then one day he received a call from his daughter Melissa. He had not seen her in years. Nick was not a very good father and was always on tour and seldom saw his daughter. Melissa needed his help and had nobody else to turn to.. Melissa need Nick's help because her daughter had been kidnap. Nick was out to seek revenge against the people that took his granddaughter and nothing could stop him. The characters in this story are well developed and this makes the story stronger. James Newman is a good writer and an excellent storyteller. I would recommend this book!

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my second read by James Newman and another good one. Enthusiastically reviewed by my friends and I certainly agree. Very dynamic thriller, I couldn't put it down, had to see what happens, ended up finishing it in one evening. Strongly reminded me of the film the Wrestler. Imagine Mickey Rourke, a lot taller and a lot more messed up looking and you got Nick, middle aged wrestler, who lost his face after a violent attack, lost his job, but out of the blue gets an opportunity to redeem himself as a father and a human being. Very tough, matter of fact, realistic writing, tight pacing. Nick is a great character, lots of guts, lots of heart, powerhouse of a guy. Very impressive book. Recommended.

[Rob Twinem · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a point towards the end of this great story, an occurrence in the narrative which totally amazed me and I can honestly say I had no idea this would happen...until it happened....and if I was to make this known to you dear reader then the surprise and everything that went before would be meaningless......Nick Bullman aka "The Widowmaker" is on a mission of redemption, a quest to discover maybe something deep within himself and in the process make amends to his daughter Melissa for all the long years of neglect and hardship that his non involvement inflicted upon her. In the process Nick discovers that he has a granddaughter Sophie and this big bull of a man must now use all his resources and cunning to rescue her from the hand of kidnappers. Nick bears the scars of a brutal attack and his face has been destroyed in the process, he will never work as "The Widowmaker" again and the discovery of his daughter and hopefully the reunification with his granddaughter will now finally give him some form of peace. This is a superb story part crime part noir with a wonderful list of characters including Mellisa's estranged (now dead) partner Eddie Whiteside, the evil "Daddy", and Leon, The Widowmaker's greatest fan, and newly acquired partner...."Suddenly, Leon erupted with a shrill noise that was part lunatic giggle, part whooping redneck cheer. "Pinch me. cause I gotta be dreamin. The Widowmaker is sitting in my kitchen!".....Nick said "you know those days are long gone, right? I'm not the Widowmaker anymore." "You'll always be Maker to me, man. The greatest grappler who ever lived!" Mr Newman has produced a well written novel with an unusual hero in the form of Nick Bullman and in the final scenes when confronted with his daughters kidnappers the Widowmaker expertly concludes and brings together the themes of the story when he states..."You people are the monsters here," said Nick. "You're the ugly ones.".....

[Adam Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

After making a few throwaway references to wrestlers in my story Damn Dirty Apes – where I suggest that the mating call of a skunk ape sounds like “Ric Flair being sodomized by a moose with his pecker greased in pepper spray” (and who’s to say it doesn’t?) – many readers asked me if I was a wrestling fan, and if I could recommend any wrestling crime/horror fiction. This is the book, folks.

Superstar wrestler Nick ‘The Widowmaker’ Bullman’s world turns to shit when his face is flayed by a pair of psychotic rasslin’ fans who make Mr. “It’s still real to me, dammit!” seem like a fairweather fan. Retreating from the public eye with his career (and face) in tatters, Bullman gets a shot at redemption when his estranged daughter draws him back to his old hometown to find his missing granddaughter, believed to have been abducted in a drug deal gone wrong…

And so begins Bullman’s journey into darkness.

Can you smell what James Newman’s cooking?
Fast-paced, fucked-up, crime/horror “white trash noir,” is what.
Newman’s the real deal. Check him out if you haven’t already.

[Sjgomzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why didn’t anyone tell me James Newman was so good! I’ve had this sitting on my shelf since May. Would have picked this up much sooner had I known I was gonna fall this much in love with it! Heading online this weekend to buy up the rest of his work. 🙂

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

”He pronounced it rasslin’. Naturally.”

Nick Bullman was once a star in the loud colorful world of wrestling. He was the Widowmaker. He left his home, his wife, and his daughter to chase fame and fortune. As any It Girl or professional athlete can tell you, that shine don’t last.

Nicks fall from fame was steep when rednecks, taking a page from Hannibal Lecter, carved off his face. When his boss tried to make a freak show of him, Nick nearly choked him to death.

The fall out - the once sexy rich athlete is now hideous and broke. It’s at this low point when Nicks daughter reaches out for help.

Nicks last chance to be a better man.

A short, merrily violent, book about family and redemption. It’s also pretty funny at times. I’ll leave you with this quote:

One of the women had a tattoo on her hip that might have been a majestic phoenix draped in flames, but from a distance it looked like somebody had puked on her and she hadn’t gotten around to wiping it off yet.

[Steve Stred · Rating 5 out of 5]

** Edited as review is now live on Kendall Reviews! **

“Of course, what fun would it have been if they stopped there?”

For most of my youth I was a massive WWF fan. Back before the company became the WWE, I was spending a lot of my free time at my grandparents’ house, just down the street, watching wrestling, playing wrestling with all of my action figures (it didn’t matter if it was GI Joes versus Thundercats or Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant, all of the action figures were fair game!).

I stopped watching Monday Night Raw sometime in my early 20’s. I don’t really remember why I stopped, something along the way either grabbed my attention and pulled it away, or I lost interest.

To this day I still enjoy watching old WWF matches and I have a friend who is now in the WWE and I’m beyond excited to see what heights he can go.

Ugly As Sin is tailor-made for all of us wrestling fans who grew up watching the biggest, baddest sports entertainers in the world. The ones who broke our hearts when they turned heel, and the ones who set out imaginations running wild, when we’d take the cushions off of our couches and then jump from the arm to the floor, turning into Macho Man throughout our entire fall from the top turnbuckle.

The story follows Nick Bullman, aka The Widowmaker. He’s the superstar wrestler of the GWA, playing his role so believably, that one night he gets kidnapped and brutalized.

After his recovery life isn’t the same anymore, until his estranged daughter calls and begs him for help.

So Nick returns to the small town of Midnight, where he grew up before getting rich and famous and vows to help.

What comes after is a mild ride through the small town, where nothing is what it seems. Where each day brings new clues and Nick starts to unravel just what is behind everything.

I’ve recommended this book to a bunch of my fellow old-school wrestling friends, and each time I’ve said it’s essentially “The Undertaker playing Liam Neeson’s role in Taken.”

I loved every page of this book and over a very short time, Newman has become one of my favourite writers. I haven’t read a single thing from him that I haven’t enjoyed and the fact that I have two more of his books sitting on my TBR makes me smile.

Newman writes what he knows and the beauty of that is, what he knows is what I grew up with. While the books themselves may not specifically be ‘coming-of-age,’ me reading them is a ‘coming-of-age’ reading experience, if that makes sense. He transports me back to a different place in my life, where I had no bills, no rent and no stress about how to stretch my paycheque.

If Newman isn’t on your TBR you need to check out his stuff ASAP and if you are a fan of old school wrestling, revenge tales, action movies and a riveting read, then I highly recommend Ugly As Sin.

[Nev Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I know this guy on Facebook who raves about books sometimes. This was one of them. I'm holding up my hand here and admitting I had never heard of James Newman but I'm always open to new authors if I like what I read.

With Ugly As sin I reeaaallllllyyy like what I read. I will also admit that in the not so distant future I will jump on the James Newman bandwagon and do some raving myself.

Ugly As Sin is a story about Nick. He is a pro wrestler. Has been for years and is above the top of his game. He is known as the Widowmaker. A bad guy all the good guys love to love and love to hate. His private life is much the same as his wrestling persona. He doesn't pay it much attention and doesn't care much for anything or anyone. He ditches his love and he ditches his daughter when fame comes to town. No regrets at the time but plenty now.

One fateful night he is attacked by a couple of loonies that fall into the category of not being able to separate wrestling fiction from wrestling reality and take out their frustration at the "Widowmaker". They maim him in a horrific fashion leaving him horribly disfigured and "Ugly As Sin". The lifestyle as he knows it falls to pieces and with it goes the fame, money and all that goes with it.

Enter the daughter he hasn't seen in nearly 20 years. She contacts him out of the blue to help her with a problem she feels she can't turn to anyone else about. Her partner is brutally murdered and her daughter has gone missing. The Granddaughter he never knew existed.

Nick goes back to his old hometown of Midnight to help his daughter find her own daughter - if she is still alive. This is where the story takes off. You follow Nick on a path that he never thought he would take. It feels like he is searching for redemption and a life that he should have had but never did.

Without giving spoilers and ruining the book for anyone else I won't give anymore of the story away. But - it's never what you think. It goes in directions that Nick, nor you, never think it will. He teams up with the most unlikely of characters in his quest to find the people responsible for his granddaughters disappearance.

The characters in this book are just fantastic. Nick is 7 foot tall and 300 pounds of aggression but at the same time a very sorrowful, timid character that is totally out of his depth in many situations and if this was a film you would be cheering at the screen to give him encouragement and support. He meets and teams up with Leon, an addict with the lifestyle of a pig but who has a personality you just can't ignore and want to give a brotherly punch on the shoulder......and a bath. The baddies are just that.....bad. You will hate them for their arrogance, their brutality and their indifference to the worth of life.

This book is white trash. It's noir. It's horrific at times and incredibly sad at others.

It's one you need in your collection.

[Pete Kahle · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are as avid a reader as I am, you occasionally discover authors who earn a place on your permanent "must-read" list. When someone asks for a suggestion of a book, their names are immediately on the tip of your tongue.

You plan ahead for the wonderful occasions when one of these authors releases a novel. The date gets circled on your calendar and you may even suddenly develop a sore throat so you can stay home and plant yourself in your hammock/couch/La-Z-Boy and spend the day immersed in the latest world that the author has created.

To me, James Newman is one of those authors. I was first introduced to his work when I received MIDNIGHT RAIN as a selection of the Leisure Book Club (R.I.P.) in 2004. I devoured it over the course of a weekend, and it has remained one of my favorite novels ever ... a coming-of-age novel that ranks up there with King's THE BODY and McCammon's BOY'S LIFE.

When I heard that we would be returning to the town of Midnight, North Carolina in UGLY AS SIN, I knew that we were in for a monster truck of a ride, but I wondered if it could possibly match the intensity of MIDNIGHT RAIN. Would it live up to my sky high expectations? The answers were Yes and Yes.

Nick Bullman, aka The Widowmaker, is reminiscent of a cross between the renowned WWE villain (or "heel") The Undertaker and Mickey Rourke's portrayal of Randy "The Ram" Robinson in the amazing movie THE WRESTLER.

Without getting into any spoilers, the appropriately named Bullman embarks upon a journey of redemption and peril in the shadowy corners of Midnight in an attempt to track down the missing granddaughter he never knew existed until now. Along the way, we come into contact with a number of familiar characters and locales from Newman's other novels. There is even a sly reference to Moloch, the monstrous demon at the heart of Newman's book, THE WICKED.

Bullman barrels through the story like the proverbial bull in the china shop, but we readers are initially the only ones who can see past the hideous scars that mark him as a monster to see the noble soul inside him. As expected, I found UGLY AS SIN to be a brutal, beautiful tale, and I'm looking forward to more installments in what I hope is a long and successful series.

5 STARS, OF COURSE :)

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a bit worried when I purchased UGLY AS SIN that it would be about wrestling. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

James Newman hits a homerun with this novel that begins with a cringing horror beyond belief. Nick “The Widowmaker” Bullman is a wrestler who becomes horribly disfigured. Shortly thereafter he assaults the CEO of the Wrestling Association and barely escapes going to prison, but his wrestling days are over. Then his estranged daughter calls and tells him his young, teenaged granddaughter he didn’t know about is missing. Newman takes us through a twisted, tangled story of interesting characters using prose that elicits imagery and pace. One character I had grown to like had me shouting (and cursing) in one particular scene.

Newman has a twisted imagination and he applies it to this contemporary story in ways that are life-like, believable, and can wring out strong emotion of profound regret and redemption. Tightly plotted, UGLY AS SIN is a fast read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Newman earns one of my rare 5-stars.

[Noigeloverlord · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book with a great cast of interesting characters.James Newman is a writer who can't be slowed down! Bring on a new book quickly!!

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this e-book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This is another 5-star read for me. Just like The Wicked, this book was difficult to stop reading once I started. James Newman writes believable and relatable characters, and he does not bog his stories down with unnecessary details. I loved the character of Nick Bullman. This story includes it all. It was suspenseful and thrilling, and there were also humorous moments (loved Nick's encounter with "Coko Puff"!) My first venture into "White-trash noir", and definitely not my last read from this author. I look forward to reading the rest of his work!

[Amit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy Sh*** dude! God, Jesus! How the hell a novel could be that much awesome and mind blowing like this freaking unbelievable book. I am dumbfounded. Impossible dude, just impossible. Now I can say this was the best novel I read in January 2019. You gotta be kidding with me. Hell...

"He dreams of what came later. After his tormentors were convicted and sent away. After the surgeons had done their best to fix him.
He dreams of all he has lost.
And strangely enough, he often wakes up smiling"...

In the end its an universal truth that family is everything. I would prefer to put this book in thriller genre more than horror. But I have to admit it was really a piece of hot cake in the menu where you can only just take it and savour it and nothing else. A truly masterpiece novel. I wish I known this before than now. The way he maintained the description of those events from this book and developed the characters was unbelievable. Every characters has there own details and you can enjoy every one of them by reading. A full pack of entertainment...

Nick a former wrestler who fought to live. His dream was become a celebrity and be famous. And indeed he reached his dream at the time. But time doesn't last forever in your favour. It changed so do you. By assaulted some crazy fans he permanently retire from the wrestling as he injured very bady by that attack on his face. He looked more like a monster than a normal person from than. Life after that would have been go perfectly well if not so suddenly as if from nowhere that phone call that he received changes his life than dramatically. Who was that young lady from the other end of the reciver? Yes it was his long live forgotten, only his own blood, his Daughter. As her desperate voice came out of the phone Nick as a father couldn't argue even for a second. He fled. To protect his vulnerable daughter, to hold his daughter in his safest arm and never let go or prevent any harm to her. Ah, Father right? You can't fight the emotion of a father, hey no hard feelings ok? All I want to say is only a man can tell how it is to be like a father when he becomes a father. When Nick was informed or known that he has also a granddaughter he couldn't just take it anymore. It was really too much for him when he found out in tragedy that his only granddaughter with whom he never net been kidnapped by someone and it took all his mighty power to control himself to the ground. He needed his family now. He never care for his family, nor for her daughter but now that he is back he wants nothing but to bring his granddaughter to his daughter and be a family again. But to do this he had to meet someone more dangerous and brutal that ever thought. But even though nothing could stop him to accomplish his mission, he is a ugly faced beast I say when it was time to be a Beast Aye...

5 out of 5...

[Kristin Scearce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is extremely well written, and it kept me completely engrossed from start to finish. The story was definitely not what I expected when I first saw the cover, but I love flawed characters, and Nick fits that type perfectly. Once I started reading, I could hardly put it down, and I blazed through the last 50% of the book in what felt like no time at all.

I would definitely recommend this to someone who wants a solid, entertaining novel with a whole host of flawed characters, a driving plot, and lots of gore and violence.

4.5 stars

**I received an ARC copy for free from BookSirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and comments within are my own.**