Crackers

by Kate DeJonge

Ashley McCormack is back! It's been three weeks since she went into the Soup business with her mysterious online partner "DarkLorrd", and now he wants her to add a new item to their black market menu. Ashley is a disturbed young woman, and although she managed to escape the hell of her early home life, she now finds herself in a situation that's just as bad. She has been left alone to manage the City of Changusay's morgue under the supervision of an off-site Medical Examiner, so getting the liquid human remains for their Soup orders is easy, but things are about to spin out of control for her in the worst of ways. Lucky for her, she doesn't have a weak stomach, and she'll do whatever it takes to get revenge.

Crackers is the sequel to Soup, also available on Godless!

Genres: Horror

100 pages, Paperback

Published September 15, 2023

About the author

Voted "most likely to run and hide" from anything spooky in younger years, Kate has made it one of her life goals to prove everyone wrong. Her stories are based on recurring nightmares, her experiences as a paranormal investigator and medium, and explorations into the crossroads where the darkness of mental illness become tangled with horror fiction (based on her own experience with CPTSD and MDD).

If you enjoy the works of Anne Rice, give her Bathorians series a try. It's witchcraft, alternative history, a splash of romance for heat, and plenty of bloody gore. Recommended age 16+.

Her short stories cover all things supernatural/horror, from ghosts and ghouls to live burials and dark fetishism. Recommended age 16+.

Reviews

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you thought Soup was something, get ready for Crackers because DeJonge is taking it in a different but no less intense direction.
4.5 rounded up.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked it even better than the first, nice quick read.

[Veronica ☠️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three weeks after the first book, Soup, Ashley is back. Still working at the city morgue and still being blackmailed by the mysterious darklorrd666. We get to know Ashley more and her horrible past. She's haunted by the things that have happened to her at the hands of her father. What she is forced to do causes her to panic and make mistakes but she's in too deep to stop.

I loved Crackers! Both of these books are so much fun! Humans turning to liquid, a dark web forum, a sinister and mysterious character, and a dark female lead. Ashley is dark, yet you find yourself rooting for her. The slip and fall scene in the bathroom is one of my biggest fears come true! I want more of this world. It's incredible!

[Shannon M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual: 4.25 stars

My gosh, Kate! This was so good. I thoroughly enjoyed the story in Soup 2: Crackers! This story picks up right after Soup and gives more backstory to Ashley. Such an intriguing concept and it was executed perfectly.

[Alenna Burleson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If i could give this a 4 1/2 stars i would. I absolutely loved this series and genuinely never wanted these books to end.

[Kayla Frederick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story begins where “Soup” left off with our twisted main character, Ashley, in the middle of a blackmailing scheme. When the book begins, she’s not sure how to get out of her situation, but it’s not long before she learns how to fight back.

The sequel is just as wild of a ride as the original.

Also, how clever is that name?

[Danielle Yeager · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Soup and couldn't wait to dive into the sequel, Crackers! Thanks to the preface, which provides a brief synopsis of Soup, this can be a stand-alone story that picks up right where things left off.

Our MC, Ashley, is being forced/blackmailed to provide the anonymous DarkLorrd666, whom she met on the dark web, with the human effluence (aka "soup") of criminals she processes in the morgue where she works.

Besides dealing with the stress, logistics, and illegality of what she's doing, Ashley gets all kinds of unexpected news in this quick read, we meet some new characters, and the last line has me hopeful for a third book.

[Derek Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Kingston, the artist formerly known as Kate DeJonge, is back! And she brought everyone’s favorite pathologist assistant, Ashley, with her. As the title suggests, Soup 2: Crackers is the sequel to the fantastic novella, Soup, released in 2022. I have anxiously awaited this follow-up novella, and I’m here to tell you it does not disappoint.
With the way Soup concluded I thought I had a good idea of where the author would take us, but I was wrong, and I am so glad I was. We go on a wild ride with one of the most likeable villains around. Ashley has major issues having grown up a victim of childhood abuse, but in truth she doesn’t hurt anyone. She only defiles the dead in ways you don’t really want to think about. She’s actually an artist of sorts.
In Crackers, we get a lot more insight into the person Ashley is as she fights back against her world that begins to crumble around her.
You definitely need to read this book, but do read Soup before Crackers. It is a continuous story, and it is a blast.
I don’t really see any triggers here unless you have an issue with consuming liquified human remains.

[Justin Boote · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the sequel to Soup! If possible, even darker and more morbid than the first without resorting to gore or shock value! The things Ashley, the morgue assistant, is forced to do or even chooses to do until a major event occurs to her is very well written and thought out.
Great research as always, can't wait for the third book to release!

[Paige Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sequel to soup. Crackers picks up where soup ended and it came with a few dark surprises. I really hope Kate writes another book continuing on with Ashley and the darklord!!

[Donald Armfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

What’s SOUP without CRACKERS?
Ashley returns with a side of revenge and spoonful of disgusting stomach turns to ease the soul. With a twist of an ending this broth just keeps getting crammed with more bites. What will be next on this menu of disturbing cuisines?

Get both Soup and Soup 2: Crackers on GODLESS!