This book is a collection of 5 novellas by father and son team Wrath and Sultan. Each story is brutal, shocking, disturbing, hard hitting, and powerful, with some very detailed and graphic imagery.
Every single one was engrossing and awesome in its own right, and covers topics such as racism, abuse, alcoholism, child abuse, faith, science and genetics. There's torture, and gore galore, but also each story has a ton of depth.
I absolutely enjoyed every single tale in this book, but my faves are, the title story, ‘Something Terrible’ and ‘Amber Alert’, which is the final story.
The father/son relationships in these stories were powerful, heartwarming and heartbreaking. Showing various types of bonds and fractured relations, behaviours passed on and purposely avoided.
And, like father like son, I'm very happy to say that I'll be seeking out more from Sultan, I'm already a huge fan of Wrath's work.
I'll do as I always do now, and write a few words for each story….
SOMETHING TERRIBLE By Wrath James White.... WOW!! Shocking, and at the same time heart wrenching. A tough read, brutal, powerful.
A strong family bond, trust broken, friendship tested to its very limits, and the biggest betrayal. The brutal revenge meted out to atone for it, and the grim realisations and regret! This one's gonna linger for a very long while….
SINS OF THE FATHER By Wrath and Sultan.... Every parent wants the perfect life for their child, would do anything to make that a reality, but sometimes, it can be taken too far...
This one gets right into your head and gets the old brain matter working overtime. Terrifying!
Perfection, but at what cost? Very disturbing.
SAMSARA By Sultan.... Kenneth suffers the most horrific, torturous nightmares. Then they start to bleed into reality. With dire consequences and a discovery of his true purpose…
FALLEN APPLE By Sultan.... A sheer determination to not be anything like his father and to not put up with the abuse any longer results in a severe and justified revenge…. but the genetics prove hard to ignore.
AMBER ALERT By Wrath.... After experiencing racism first hand, Martin sets out to eradicate it once and for all, and what better way than with genetics and a few rituals?
This story escalates pretty damn quickly, the fuckedupness coming fast, hard and bloody! Terrifying and gnarly! The tension in this was palpable, I was on the edge of my seat for the entire crazy ride.