Blister: Thriller

by Jeff Strand

Jason Tray ist ein erfolgreicher Karikaturist, der von seinem Agenten für ein paar Tage in eine Hütte am See verbannt wurde, um Ruhe zu finden.
Als er eines Nachts mit ein paar Einheimischen in einer Kneipe rumhängt, bieten sie ihm an »Blister zu sehen«. Ohne zu ahnen, wovon sie reden, nimmt Jason ihr Angebot an.
Und so späht er kurz darauf durch das Fenster eines Schuppens auf das Albtraumhafteste, was er jemals gesehen Blister ist eine fürchterlich entstellte junge Frau, die sich vor der Welt versteckt. Am nächsten Morgen bedauert Jason sein Verhalten. Er muss sich bei der Frau entschuldigen …
Doch diese kleine Stadt hat ihre Geheimnisse und Bewohner, die vor nichts zurückschrecken, um sie zu hüten.

Eine Geschichte voller menschlicher Monster.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Romance, Fiction, Humor, Dark, Suspense

275 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2016

About the author

Bram Stoker Award-winning author of a bunch of demented books, including PRESSURE, DWELLER, CLOWNS VS. SPIDERS, AUTUMN BLEEDS INTO WINTER, MY PRETTIES, the official novelization of ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES, and lots of others!

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth Every Penny!

Well, to be honest...I’ve never been disappointed with any books by Jeff Strand. So far, I have enjoyed every one that I have read. And Blister is no exception.

Jason Tray meets Rachel aka Blister, living in a shed in her back yard. He feels guilty for spying on her.

When he apologizes and begins visiting, they become friends. And though her dad, Malcolm, objects to their friendship, he comes around and let them be.

Unexpectedly, for Jason, being friends with Blister, in a small town, cannot stay a secret.

Four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Arah-Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a liar, but this is the truth.

Holy frak!  What just happened here?  I remember, sometime ago reading a review of this, penned by Dan Schwent (thank you) but I honestly could not recall what the book was about, which is to say that I went into this pretty much blind.  And I am so glad I did.

So as not to ruin the reading experience for anyone else, let me just say this.

Jason Tray is a cartoonist, a fairly successful one.  He also has a Schnauzer named Ignatz and as our story opens Ignatz is out in the yard being teased by a couple of school kids.  Jason does not make a big deal of this but when it happens again, he politely asks the boys to stop teasing his dog.  No such luck, the very next day the school boys are throwing rocks at Ignatz.  Enough,  it is clearly time to speak with their parents, but when he fails to get a satisfactory response from one of the boy’s mothers and when the following day Ignatz gets hit by our rock throwing chums, Jason decides to deal with matters in his own way.  The following day when the boys showed up as usual to torment his dog, Jason bursts out of the house covered in fake blood and gore, wielding a faux, but still roaring, chainsaw in one hand and a severed head in the other and proceeds to give chase.  Hilarious right, except one of the boys was so scared he fell and broke his arm.    Jason’s publicist/agent is not amused or impressed.  He suggests strongly  that Jason take a break and retreat for a little while, offering his lakeside cabin in Georgia as an ideal place to do so.  On his second night at the cabin Jason gets a little antsy and visits a small local bar.  Once inside , beer in hand, Jason strikes up a conversation with a couple of local guys while shooting pool and after one too many drinks, Louie and Erik convince Jason to go along with them to see their local peek show,” Blister”..  

It was midafternoon when I started this and when I next looked up I was shocked to see that night had descended and I was sitting  alone in a dark room. (kindle magic)  I quickly turned on a lamp, you know to give the illusion of normalcy, made myself a cuppa and did not look up again until I had turned the last page.  

Blister is a non stop, action packed, horrific romp that is both gruesome and graphic, not to mention relentless.  There is also a touching love story that while not the main focus remains central to the story being told.  Who knew a white knuckle thriller could be so funny.  I loved Jason’s wit and the whole small town, back woods atmosphere.  

Any book that has me holding my kindle in a death grip, while laughing out loud, all by myself in a dark room, gets five full stars from me.  

Gotta go now and see what else this man has written.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an entertaining and compelling story. Jason Tray, a cartoonist, meets the freak of the town after being sent to a remote cabin by his agent. What started with an excuse (he did some kind of Peeping Tom act together with two locals) started into a brilliant who-did-it and what consequences came along murder story. The frame of the story is simple but marvelous. The twists are always outstanding and the author comes up with fantastic ideas to drive the story on. The storytelling itself keeps you right on track with this novel. You almost felt sorry for the story to end so soon. Nasty, unsuual tale told in an incredibly good and convincing way. A true highlight. Highly recommended!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

After an unfortunate incident, cartoonist Jason Tray goes to his agent's cabin to hide out for a while. In the company of some drunken locals, he spies on local legend Blister, a woman with a disfigured, burn-scarred face. The next morning, he returns to her father's house to apologize and they become friends, which a lot of people are strangely against...

Jeff Strand earned his spot on my 'read everything by' list with such gems as Wolf Hunt and Kumquat. This one has been on my radar for a long time.

Based on the setup, I thought this one would be a lot like Kumquat. While there are some similarities, they're different kinds of books. While this one is also an unlikely love story, it's also about secrets in small towns and what people will do to keep them hidden.

Jason and Rachel, aka Blister, share a lot of witty banter and I thought their relationship developed pretty realistically. Blister's backstory was pretty twisted, as were a lot of the things that followed.
Strand could have phoned in the supporting cast as a bunch of small town rubes but I thought their motivations made a lot of sense in the context of things.

Jeff Strand's writing reminds me of a more serious Christopher Moore, hilarious when it needs to be and pretty horrific when the situation warrants. I was scared for Jason when the shit finally went down. Also, I felt like a rube a couple times since there were a few twists I should have seen coming. I kept looking at how much of the book I had left, wondering how there was so much book left to read. And then Strand would kick me in the gonads.

Blister was everything I hoped it would be and more. It's criminal that Jeff Strand isn't selling crazy numbers of books. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

HOLY CRAP ON A CRACKER! ******SOME SPOILERS******



Well, where do I begin! This book is cray and I loved it! Well, certain parts I didn't like but there was revenge for said parts I didn't like so it all worked out I guess =)

First off we have Jason Tray, he's a cartoonist and he's funny and pretty cool. But after these bratty little bastards keep throwing rocks at his little dogger, Ignatz, he takes matters into his own hands. I mean the parents didn't listen so he dresses up all covered in blood, fake chainsaw and fake severed head and chases them down the road. LMBO! One of the kids falls and breaks his arm. GOOD!



I would say they got off easy because if someone is harming one of my animals, I'm going to jail for what I do to them!

Moving on, this makes his agent, Chuck mad and he sends Jason off to say in his cabin until everything blew over. The parents didn't press charges because they could care less about much of anything.

"All right, all right, I'll go." Hanging out on a lake for a few days actually sounded like fun. It might provide the inspiration for some cabin-themed strips. "Just between you and me, though-the kid breaking his arm was kind of funny, wasn't it?"

Chuck just glared at me.



When Jason gets to town he ends up going down to the local bar and drinking it up with a couple of idiots. Then said idiots take him down to show him Blister. He has no idea what they are talking about but he goes along. They take him to a shed next to a cabin and make him look in the window. He is terrified by what he sees and leaves right away.

But the next day Jason is feeling bad and he goes back and talks to Blister's father and he allows him to go and apologize to her. She has her face covered in a mask and she accepts his apology. He finds out her name is Rachel. And. . .

her evil ex-boyfriend, Brandon, wasn't happh when she wouldn't have sex with him so he takes her to a cabin, dresses as creepy clown, proceeds to cut her face and take a blowtorch to it. Yeah . . . that's what I'm looking for in a boyfriend!



Truth is, she had a fight with her boyfriend Nobody knows what caused it, but I think she was a bit too wholesome for him, if you know what I mean. He tied her down and went at her face with a straight razor and a blowtorch. Can you believe that? A blowtorch."

Jason and Rachel do strike up a great friendship and she doesn't even have to wear a mask around him. They spend time talking in her shed before he takes her out to do things in the world.

"What kind of incident?"
"Here, you be the judge. Let's say that these horrible little kids were throwing rocks at your dog, and you asked them nicely to stop, and then you went to one of their mothers and she didn't care. So next time they threw rocks, you burst out of your house with a fake severed head and a fake chainsaw, and you were covered with fake blood, and the kids flipped out and ran away, and one of them fell and broke his arm. Is that funny?"

Rachel was silent for a very long moment, her face completely motionless. Finally, she spoke: "That's fucking hilarious."

"I know, right? Thank you! Thank you so much!" I was becoming a huge Blister fan.

I really loved how Jason got Rachel to go out and do some things, even if she just sat in the car at first. People in the world can be so cruel. But they had funny times.

"Do you want a beef stick?" I asked. "Places like this usually have beef sticks."
"Is that an innuendo?"
"Oh, yeah. When I ask the ladies if they want me to buy them a beef stick from a fruit shop, they're all over me."
"Well, naturally."

There is a lot that goes on. There is a lot that we find out about the evil boyfriend Brandon. AND <--
there are more holy shite moments when you get to one part and realize something. No I'm not going to tell you but it was awesome! Well, maybe not awesome but you know what I mean.

Oh and said bad boyfriend also cut cats with razor blades and used a blowtorch on them like he did on Rachel. Nothing graphic, just tells about it. So yeah, him going up in a blaze of glory for many things does not bother me one bit.

I think a lot of people will enjoy this crazy book and it's also on kindle unlimited at the time of this review!

MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

..."Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my freaking God."

..."She leaned a bit closer. Before I tell you this story, I have to ask you: Are you scared of clowns?" Hehehe.......

BLISTER is a work of non-stop suspenseful horror that has it all......a horrific beginning......a horrific middle......and a horrific smash-up of a conclusion. The action just never subsides; and yes, it is gory and gruesome and graphic with implements used I refuse to reveal, and there's a psychopath or two and goulish secrets and other loony-toon types on the loose. (Whew!)

But, what actually makes it all work so well is the fast-talking, smart-mouth, crazy Cartoonist Jason, his undying love for his dog and his unexpected encounter with the reclusive Rachel.

Written with a witty sarcastic prose throughout, even when under the most intense and adverse situations, Jeff Strand delivers a most entertaining read that kept me glued to the pages.

(Thank you to my friend Susan for bringing this book to my attention insisting that I make the purchase.

Recommend for diehard fans of horror only.

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blister was a crazy ride, but not in the usual Jeff Strand kind of way.

I'm not going to rehash the plot, because the basics are listed in the summary for you. I will say that I enjoyed the audio of this book quite a bit. It was funny, sad, and touching all at once. At first I didn't care much for the narrator, Daniel Dorse, but as the audio progressed he grew on me.

The premise of this novel is a bit out there, and there were portions of the plot, especially toward the end of the book, that went over the top. But as long as you don't expect everything to be completely believable, I think you'll have a good time listening to this audio.

If you do decide to check it out, tell Blister I said hello!

*Please note, if you purchase the Kindle version as I did, you can add the audio for a greatly reduced price!*

You can get your audio copy here: Blister

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

3.5 Stars

“I try to be sunshiny, but the whole ‘grotesque monster’ part gets in the way.”

After a run-in with some horribly raised heathens, cartoonist Jason Tray is told by his agent to do his best What About Bob? impersonation and take a vacation from his problems. Sent to a cabin on a picturesque lake, Jason does what any man in his right mind would do – goes to the local watering hole and gets loaded with the locals. After getting thoroughly soused, the locals decide it’s a great time to take Jason to a shed inhabited by someone known as “Blister” . . . . .



Upon seeing said resident, Jason reacts a bit like so . . . .



The next day Jason wakes up feeling remorse (along with a fairly severe case of brown bottle flu) and decides he needs to go to Blister’s house in order to grab her in the . . . - j/k – he wants to apologize. And that is where the fun begins.

Jeff Strand is an author who has been on my radar pretty much since I joined Goodreads. I’ve had a failed experience with one of his shorts, my kid and I both had success with one of his middle-grade stories (and if you know my kid you’ll know it’s an effin’ struggle to get him to read every night), and he wrote one of my favorite books ever. I wanted Blister as soon as I saw the shushing-gauzed-face cover. Alas, I am poor because children will suck every damn penny from you so I put a shout-out if anyone had a lendable of this I had dibs. Which led to Copy Dan seeing Original Dan reading it and doing my begging for me. And that is why I love this place. Bitch all you want about the “upgrades,” but I’ve met some mighty fine people here. Oh, and in case you don’t know me, let me fill you in on a little secret . . . .



So it’s a farkin’ miracle I’ve somehow managed to find not only miserly curmudgeons like myself, but also super generous peeps like the Dans mentioned above. Well, one of the Dans is a curmudgeon as well, but that’s just the best of both worlds as far as I’m concerned.

Thanks again to both of you fellas for hooking me up with such a ridiculous little tale. It brought me quite the happy . . . .



Copy provided by the only best Dans I know!

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I came across this title randomly; the premise seemed interesting—unfortunately, it was a letdown.

There was no real horror involved beyond the physical aspects, and those parts were too few and far between to create any real sort of tension. I kept waiting on some mega twist at the end, even after the initial twist was revealed. Sadly this just left me with a fairly empty "That's it!?"

As I do say with these things, a shame, really.

[Bridgett · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I was becoming a huge Blister fan.”

Me too, oddly enough.

I loved the dry-witted Jason, a comic strip creator. I loved the highly sarcastic and ultimately sweet Rachel. I loved Ignatz the Schnauzer. And I really loved this zany, romantic...thriller?

Honestly, I think a genre needs to be invented just for Jeff's books, because they're truly one of a kind.

Lately, I've had so much on my plate and no time to read...yet today, not feeling the greatest, I found my happy place in this story. In fact, I read a big chunk of it while immersed in a bubble bath. It was delightful. Jeff Strand always makes me laugh and here's a little snippet as to why:

"Do you want a beef stick?" I asked. "Places like this usually have beef sticks."
"Is that an innuendo?"
"Oh, yeah. When I ask the ladies if they want me to buy them a beef stick from a fruit shop, they're all over me."
"Well, naturally."

I love witty banter! And it's top-notch in this story.

Something else I've noticed about Jeff's books...his female protagonist is usually flawed, imperfect (on multiple levels), and not at all what most men would consider loveable, yet his male characters always manage to figure out what makes them special. I couldn't love that more. It endears his books and characters to me in a very heartfelt way.

I rarely have anything negative to say about a Strand book, and BLISTER is no exception. If you're looking for a charming, relatively quick, oddly romantic (yet bloody and, often times, dark) novel (with tons of his brilliant, deadpan humor), then you've found it!

Available now for purchase, or on Kindle Unlimited.

4.25 stars!

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wonder if I'm a rare one to consider this a rather sweet, if twisted, romance novel. I mean, sure, some elements are demented like a horror novel... but for the most part, it reads like any other boy meets girl story. :)

I mean, sure, the girl has a flaw or two, but being horribly disfigured shouldn't really count as a huge flaw. We all have our faults. :)

Here's the interesting part: I actually liked the whole vibe of practically every single character not being particularly good at their jobs or lives. It was charming and a bit funny. Old papa failed at being a complete redneck, the Sherrif absolutely failed at being good at upholding the law, the cartoonist never had a good hold on understanding people or himself, and don't even let me get started on the bad guys. Totally incompetent! It was fun as hell.

So, far from being scary, as you might expect from a cover like this, we've got a very dark romantic comedy from the start, when the cartoonist scares off a bunch of asshole kids with a fake chainsaw and the kid breaks his arm trying to get away, to the end where it feels like everyone is going to let everything slide no matter how horrific it gets.

And then the very end happens.

And I'm like... WTF?

Uncool, man. Uncool.

I mean, sure, the end message was kinda or very romance-y ... in a way ... but still!!! WTF! I totally expected the other trend to continue, not get blindsided like that.

For amusement, I was going to give this a full five stars, but for that end, I'm knocking off one and I'm frowning furiously. ; ;

[Mort · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five years ago Rachel became Blister, the town freak.
Why?
Because, when her boyfriend took a knife and blowtorch to it, her face got fucked up. For those of you who think I'm just being crass by not using messed up, let me give you some perspective:
Val Kilmer's face in THE SNOWMAN was messed up (a bit cruel perhaps, but if you've seen him in TOP GUN and do the comparison, yikes!).
Freddy Krueger's face is seriously messed up.
Blister's face is fucked up!

Jason Tray is a successful cartoonist and after a (HILARIOUS!!) prank goes wrong, his agent sends him to a lakeside cabin for some rest and relaxation...or until this thing blows over and he doesn't get sued.

One night, he gets drunk with some locals who takes him to see "Blister". His reaction - What the fuck is that?! - makes her cry, so the next morning he feels the need to go and apologize.

And that's when things get interesting...

As usual, Strand made me giggle like a schoolgirl in places. I love to read this author!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start by saying this is the first book I have read by this author, and I really just need more.

I was completely into this story from the very beginning.

I couldn't believe the people in this town. Not only are they all batshit crazy, but they are also really mean. This poor women was disfigured at 18 years old in the worst possible way, and all these towns people can do, is make fun of her, and even go so far as to bring people that don't know who she is, past her house to scare them. I was horrified at the poor behaviour the people living in this town showed. In my opinion the only freak in this book was the towns people.

But then Jason comes along and has the guts to go apologise for his part in what happened when he went passed her shed to see what was inside, and it pretty much starts from there.

This is not a fast pace story, but I did have trouble putting it down most of the time, and finished it pretty quickly.

I also worked out some of the plot, but most of the book was a mystery, and pretty unexpected. I really enjoyed reading this book, and will be looking for more by this author in the near future.

I would definitely recommend this book to other reads 📖

Happy Reading 📚📚📙📒📗📘📔📖📚😇

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not what it looks like.

Yes, I know that the cover art and title is creepy. Yes, I know that it's written by Jeff Strand, who has an extensive bibliography filled with lovely titles like: Dead Clown Barbecue, Benjamin's Parasite, and Casket For Sale: Only Used Once. But trust me, this book is not a horror tale. Now, there are some horrifying events detailed, but in fact, this is actually a tender-hearted, quirky love story with doses of great comedy and also some small-town mystery.

It begins with one of the best opening lines ever:

I'm a liar, but this is the truth.

I think that line is not only a great way to start this particular tale, but it also simply sums up everything about what it means to be a writer of fiction. While reading this book, I was so worried that this story would fall off the rails in an epic way. It's not the easiest tale to tell and the love story aspect as well as Rachel's backstory have to be handled delicately or it all could've fallen apart. There's a twist near the end that I believe could've been handled better. But Jeff Strand is such a witty writer and has so much confidence in what he's doing, it seems like he could take any crazy story and really make it stand out.

[11811 (Eleven) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost forgot to rate this one. It was awesome but it was Jeff Strand so there ya go.

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I loved this story. Loved, loved, loved it. Rachel and Jason were, indeed, involved in a Romeo and Juliet type of situation. However, there were so many nefarious and sinister variables at play that it, most certainly, made this into a perfect blend of being a unique romance, thriller, and horror. And it did them all very well. It boasted a wonderful flow, an absolutely beautiful and bizarre story, and a great cast of characters that just carried this thing all way the way. Why not a perfect 5-star rating, you ask? I felt like the ending portion of the book added way too many, unnecessary, additional plot points that just crowded an already abundantly packed story. Probably could have trimmed off 30-40 pages and felt more finely tuned than in its current form. Even still, this had me glued to my laptop, avoiding work at all costs, to read in one sitting. Jeff Strand strikes again, folks. And Peter Topside abides.

[Cindy Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. I've heard this described as a horror comedy, but it's definitely heavier on the comedy than the horror. Some of the situations demand that you suspend reality a bit, but nothing that is a deal-breaker, as far as I'm concerned. The protagonist--an up-and-coming cartoonist with a knack for landing in awkward situations--is extremely likable. I mean, I would love to be friends with this guy! He's sharp and funny, and I'm on board with his sense of humor. Unlike his agent, I found the chainsaw incident hilarious.

There's a lot of humor to be found in this book, and Strand has a deft touch for dialogue. The pacing is excellent. I found Rachel's reaction to the news that her father was not quite as altruistic as she thought unrealistic, as well as Jason's reaction to it. It wasn't enough to spoil the story, though. There are a few graphic scenes, but they are pretty quick. The only true horror I felt was when Jason was at the mercy of the villain and I thought I was going to have to endure a blow-by-blow (no pun intended!) account of what the villain had planned for him.

Strand created some truly hilarious minor characters--I think Holly and her fiancé are my favorites. The non-barfight scene is epic! I can't wait to read more by this author. I see that he has quite a few to choose from, so that should keep me busy for awhile!

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

BLISTER, by Jeff Strand, is a novel that I hardly know how to begin categorizing. However, the things that you can count on when picking up ANY title by this author is that you are diving into something original, fresh, with unforgettable characters, and usually a heavy dose of dark humor laced with sarcasm all throughout. It has gotten so that whenever Jeff Strand has a new release coming out, it immediately goes into the “buy now” category.

The story begins with Jason Troy, a cartoonist who spends most of his time indoors drawing the comic strip “Off Balance”, featuring Zep the beetle. Aside from Chuck Rhodes, his agent and publisher, his conversational skills are usually only practiced upon his pet schnauzer, Ignatz. With this set of circumstances, it’s no real surprise when his agent orders him to take a “forced vacation”, and get out of the public eye for a while.

“ . . . I was glad that Chuck had banished me from polite society for a while. When I returned to Florida, I’d be more relaxed and perhaps less inclined to frighten the neighborhood kids.”

It doesn’t take long for Jason to grow bored in Chuck’s less-than-rustic cabin, fishing and enjoying the country. He heads out to a small bar used by the locals, and after a few drinks, finds himself begin led to a shed to catch a glimpse of a young woman they refer to as “Blister”, due to her severe facial scars and burns.

By the next morning, feeling incredibly guilty for his drunken antics, Jason decides to drive out to the shed and apologize in person. After working his way past Malcolm, an overprotective father with a penchant for guns, he meets Rachel, face to . . . mutilated face.

“ . . . I try to be sunshiny, but the whole ‘grotesque monster’ part gets in the way.”

From that point on, the characters, the town’s past, and of course, Jason and Rachel, take over completely. I could never tell in advance what direction this novel would take, only that I was loving every minute of it. I can honestly say that I never once felt as though I were reading mere “filler” at any point; all scenes and conversations were there to propel the novel forward. With “small talk”, such as the following, how could you even think of leaving these characters?

“ . . . Let’s say that these horrible little kids were throwing rocks at your dog, and you asked them nicely to stop, and then you went to one of their mothers and she didn’t care. So the next time they threw rocks, you burst out of your house with a fake severed head and a fake chainsaw, and you were covered with fake blood, and the kids flipped out and ran away, and one of them fell and broke his arm. Is that funny?”

The atmosphere of the small town community is the perfect setting for this type of story—anything less wouldn’t have let the intensity of emotions fester as well. In a large town, Rachel’s story would have been but one tragic event of many. Here, where everyone knows their neighbors’ secrets, opinions and prejudices don’t go away—they stay, turning one person’s trauma into a local “monster story”.

“I can’t help but feel that maybe you aren’t understanding that your father has you locked in there. There’s a padlock on the door.”

Due to Jason’s unconventional lifestyle, and limited human interaction, the story actually seems plausible in that he would find an honest friendship with someone that everyone else would avoid—except to flaunt their inbred cruelty. Naturally, this change in the balance of their community has its repercussions, as people in this town don’t take kindly to change.

“ . . . I’m not trying to criticize your parenting skills, but I think I can read people well enough to decide if they’re the type of person who wants to be locked in a shed for the rest of their life . . .”

In a way that only Strand can pull off so convincingly, even the most outrageous, unthought-of twists come off as feeling practically “natural”. No matter what is thrown at the reader in terms of the novel’s content, it is easy to accept the most peculiar and outlandish scenarios as not only TRUE, but the only way it “could have” played out.

Overall, this was a solid five-star read for myself. In addition to the fantastically detailed characters and perfect location for this story to unfold, Strand’s unique and unconventional wit makes BLISTER stand out among so many others. Whether you’re looking for horror, humor, an oddly formed version of love, or gratuitous violence, you’ll find all that and more in this novel. One thing that you are sure to come away with—no matter how malignant and vile the monsters we imagine, nothing comes close in comparison to the capacity for evil in the “human monster”.

Highly recommended.

**UPDATE: Still love this book!** May 2, 2021

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange story of love and murder!

Blister
By Jeff Strand
This story is a mystery, touch of horror, and a bit of romance. Blister is the name of a girl that had her face horribly cut up and burned. Her father kept her home after that because of the horrible looks she got in town.
A cartoonist comes to his agent's cabin and at the bar some of the drunks ask him if he wants to see something strange. They take him to peek into Blisters window. The next day he feels bad about it when he hears about who she really is and how she got disfigured.
Her father doesn't like her socializing. Others don't like the cartoonist changing things up. They go after him.
It's a good mystery and thriller. The sweet romance blooming despite the disfigurement is nice too!

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 5 out of 5]

After loving some of his short stories, I finally read one of Jeff's full novels, and this was honestly so much fun. I loved Jeff's sense of humor and I couldn't help but root for Jason and Rachel the entire time - and precious Ignatz, of course. I'm so glad I picked this up and I'm definitely looking forward to my next Jeff Strand read!

✨ Content warnings for: violence, torture, mutilation, murder, attempted assault, ableism, cruelty/bullying

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[The Behrg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't give out five star reviews lightly. There has to be something special about a book to earn all that gold, to make it onto the shelf of books that can't be forgotten -- not because you don't want to forget them, but simply because they CAN'T be forgotten.

I've watched Jeff Strand's new novel hover in the #1 spot on Amazon for "Horror-Comedy" -- an absurd category, if ever there was one -- since it's release, but I was hesitant with picking this one up. While I love Strand's writing, the premise didn't necessarily grab me. But ... I eventually caved.

(See how strong my willpower is folks?!?)

Let me tell you, this is one that deserves the sales and popularity it's receiving.

Strand has constructed a seemingly simple story, but one with more depth than should ever be allowed in a "horror-comedy." And don't let that genre label fool you -- this is literary fiction with a dark slant matched with Strand's talented ear for dialogue and humor. Plenty of surprises that were all organic to the story, but it's the characters that sweep you along, and with Blister, Strand has created some pretty unforgettable ones.

A novel that was a simple joy to read and experience, for anyone who's been sitting on the fence with this one, do yourself a favor and pick it up. I can't imagine ANYONE being disappointed with this one.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

OK this turned into something completely different from what I expected. Not bad, just different.

The story is that of a cartoonist who is sent to a remote little town by his agent until some "bad publicity" has blown over. There, he makes dubious friends one night and goes to see the local "freak", a girl with a seriously disfigured face. The next day, he is sorry and wants to apologize to her and thus a whole lot of weird trouble starts.

Honestly, the story isn't bad but it is dragging. Maybe because while I was feeling for Rachel and liked the social topics covered here, I wanted it to be more spooky than it actually was. Or maybe because the twists weren't really twists (no actual surprises) and the supposedly comical things weren't all that funny. *shrugs*

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second book by Strand (although this is more like a novella) and I really love his prose. Plus, he can really draw you into a story. Blister is, however, a very strange story and I am a little mixed on it. The titular Blister is actually a 20 something woman whose face was ruined by her boyfriend when she was 18. By ruined, I mean he cut her up with a razor and then blow torched it. Her mouth is ok as he had it stuffed with a rag, and he did not touch the eyes as he wanted her to see him destroy her face. Now, Blister (what the town folks call her) lives in a shack/shed behind her father's house.

Our main protagonist, Jason Tray, works as a successful cartoonist but after he had an 'incident' with one of his neighbor's boys, his manager suggests he lay low and 'suggests' staying at his cabin up in Georgia. After a few days of farting around, Jason heads to a local pub; there he has some beers with the fellas and they suggest a surprise for him. Unknowingly, they take him to Blister's shack and he sees her through the window there and recoils in horror. She hears him, however, and lets out a moan. The next day he goes up there to apologize (after getting some backstory on her from the locals), and after a strange conversation with her overprotective dad, gets to apologize face to face. He finds out she is really funny and sharp, and after a few more visits, this turns into romance territory...

Jason's character is fun; he is snarky and quick and pretty believable. The story itself? While Strand pulls you in to it nicely, I had to suspend my disbelief a little too hard, especially past the halfway point. Still, good dialogue and vivid characters helped to make this a fun read. Expect some good twists and turns, but still, I was scratching my head at the end. 3 blisters!

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sort of at a loss for words on this book especially seeing the high ratings it has received, but alas I have to give it two stars as it was nothing of what I was expecting which I will explain more about that in a bit.

A small backstory:

Jason Tray along with his friends discuss a woman that lives outside of town that is named Blister and on a dare Jason's friends tell him to go peek through the window to look at her. Jason isn't too sure about it, but finally not to be ragged on by his friends he takes a peek and what he sees is upsetting to say the least as the woman's face is deformed and burnt. Jason feels bad about what he done the next day and decides to go back to the house to apologize.

Thoughts:

From that point on in the story things branch out way beyond from what I was thinking the book would become as it more or less turned out to be romance horror. For me if I am looking to read horror then I want horror, but this story had quite a bit of romance in it as the character Jason and Blister become romantically involved which took me completely down a different road than what I was thinking. There were some horror moments but it was more a love story than an actual horror story.

Compared to a couple of other Strand books I have read this one falls way below the mark for me. But that is just my opinion as other horror fans might like that kind of book and it does seem that way with the four and five star ratings it has received, but it just wasn't for me. Giving this book two "disappointing" stars!

[Fabi NEEDS Email Notifications · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was glued to this book. I wanted to put my life on hold just to keep reading it nonstop.

It's the most uniquely bizarre story I've ever read. I went into it thinking it was Horror. I'll admit it was gruesome, but it wasn't horror. It was more dark comedy than anything else. Throw in a pinch of psychedelic love story and, voila, we have a most entertaining mix of unusual.

Jason had me in chapter 1. We meet and get to know his personality in a very engaging first chapter. The silly mix of self-importance and self-defacement in his internal dialogue made for an enchanting introduction. From chasing little boys while dressed up as a chainsaw massacre monster to quietly reflecting on his lack of boy-scout skills. He didn't fail to delight throughout the story.

The cabin had a microwave and a convection oven, but I decided to rough it and make a campfire. Dinner consisted of burnt hot dogs, burnt marshmallows, and way too many sour cream and onion-flavored potato chips.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Rachel. Especially since I didn't know what kind of book I was reading. But I was pleasantly surprised to find her charming. Her quick wit kept up with Jason and added so much to their back and forth dialogue. She even made Jason speechless at one point.

I had nothing clever to say. I was under breast hypnosis.

Jason and Rachel are the two main characters, but there are so many rich side characters. They are all lovable idiots. Even the grisly psychos were engaging idiots. Then again, most characters were psychos in one way or another. Jason's clearheadedness in the face of adversity was a sight to behold.

You weren't allowed to kill people for being assholes.

As much as I loved Jason, I wouldn't call this a character driven novel. It was almost a comedy of errors. Except that the errors were usually hilariously dumb actions by the characters when those characters were not brutally mutilating and killing each other.

This was insane.
This was more than insane.
This was insane to the ninth or tenth power.

Yes, Jason. Yes it was.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tale about a woman called Blister who is willingly living in her father's shed after a horrific attack which leaves her face mutilated beyond repair. In steps Jason, a cartoonist who feels bad after taking a peek at the 'local legend,' Blister and feels the need to apologise.
The synopsis sounds grim and the story is, but it's also bizarre, melodramatic, funny and lightly farcical. The writing is slightly juvenile and there are plot holes big enough to sink the Titanic, but to hell with it, it was a fun ride.

[Adam Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a stressed-out new father, this was just what I needed. A quirky horror cum murder-mystery cum love story. Personality in spades, and a no-bullshit prose style, infused with good humour. I understand now why so many people have recommended I read Jeff Strand. I'll be reading more.

[Frank Errington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review copy

Jason Tray is a popular cartoonist. Four panels a day with ten on Sundays. After an incident involving his dog, Ignatz, a couple of neighborhood brats, a fake chain saw, and a make-believe severed head, his manager decides to send him off to his cabin until things settle down.

While ostensibly on vacation and trying to stay away from trouble, Jason meets a women some fifteen years his younger who was horribly disfigured by her then boyfriend five years ago.

What follows is a charming romance story/horrible nightmare. Blister can be likened to standing in line for what you think is the tamest roller coaster at the amusement park, only to discover it's really the tallest and fastest, with more twists and turns and loops than any you've ever ridden before. But, wow, what a ride.

I've read several books by Jeff Strand and this is one of my favorites. I thoroughly enjoyed the dark humor, cringe-worthy horror, and even the off-beat romance. Blister truly is something special, with oh-wow moments and a reference to one of the most forgettable recordings of 1970. When you get to it, be sure and look up it's Wikipedia page online.

Highly recommended.

Blister: A Novel is available in paperback, e-book, and audio formats from Sinister Grin Press. If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read it at no additional charge. Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE using the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

Jeff Strand's books include Wolf Hunt, A Bad Day For Voodoo, Dead Clown Barbecue, and a bunch of others. He lives in Tampa, Florida, with his wife and two cats names Chaos and Mayhem.

[Staceywh_17 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly my dog somehow managed to put base this with his fancy paw-work on my Amazon kindle fire! Rather than return it I thought I'd give it a go. I personally wouldn't class it as a horror, more of a twisted love story. But, it kept my attention until I'd finish the book. Loved it!

[Radd Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

I'm honestly not sure what I read but it was highly unusual and quite entertaining.

I really loved the dialogue. "Technically" this is dark but the H cracked me up with some of his thoughts and his reactions to things was just crazy sometimes. So there was a very clear humor aspect to this book that didn't make it seem so dark.

The last 20-30% was really OTT. Completely bizarre and unbelievable, but it kind of worked.

The unique story, the dialogue, the characters and the whacky antics made this a really odd book, but certainly one that kept me engaged.

Quotes:
“You looked terrified."
"I didn't look terrified."
"You were stricken with horror, as if Satan himself had said 'Be my eternal bitch.'”

“Overall, I think the past couple of years had gone fairly smoothly, until that one time when I covered myself with fake blood and chased some kids with a chainsaw.”