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The Switched
One summer morning, totally unconnected people wake up as somebody else. They have their names, their lives, and their problems. Nobody knows how or why it's happened, and nobody knows if or when they'll ever get their own lives back. They must quickly learn to accept, adapt to, and in some cases embrace their new personas if they are to survive in a world where the people known as The Switched will do anything to get their old bodies back from others who will desperately do anything to protect their true identity, and hide deep behind their new face.
Against the backdrop of a nationwide search for popular television presenter Francesca O’Reilly, whose very public breakdown and disappearance sparks chaos on social media, it quickly becomes apparent that the switching phenomenon is far more widespread than anybody could have known, and The Switched become the most famous people in the country.
Take a trip into the darkest corners of the darkest minds in this supernatural thriller, the blackest work yet by Ryan Bracha, the best selling author of Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven't Killed Yet and the Dead Man Trilogy.
Against the backdrop of a nationwide search for popular television presenter Francesca O’Reilly, whose very public breakdown and disappearance sparks chaos on social media, it quickly becomes apparent that the switching phenomenon is far more widespread than anybody could have known, and The Switched become the most famous people in the country.
Take a trip into the darkest corners of the darkest minds in this supernatural thriller, the blackest work yet by Ryan Bracha, the best selling author of Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven't Killed Yet and the Dead Man Trilogy.
299 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 15, 2015
3 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Ryan Bracha
33 books37 followersRyan Bracha is the Amazon-bestselling author of eleven novels, a novella, and a collection of short stories. In his early twenties, he made a brief foray into independent filmmaking. At 24, he wrote and directed his debut feature Tales From Nowhere, a limited-release cult oddity he once described as “Pulp Fiction meets Kes.” Though the film’s lifespan was short, it ignited a passion for bold, unorthodox storytelling.
Ryan spent the next several years honing his voice as a novelist. His debut, Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven’t Killed Yet, took nearly four years to complete, and was followed by a relentless output of raw, genre-defying fiction. Over the course of his writing career, he’s self-published eleven novels, a novella, and a short story collection — each one taking risks and refusing to play it safe.
Though no longer writing fiction intensively, Ryan remains creatively active. He continues to write across other forms and channels his energy as frontman and lyricist for the electronic punk band Misery Prize, bringing the same edge and attitude to the stage as he did to the page. He lives and works in South Yorkshire, where the ideas never quite stop coming.
Visit www.miseryprizeband.co.uk to follow his musical endeavours.
Ryan spent the next several years honing his voice as a novelist. His debut, Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven’t Killed Yet, took nearly four years to complete, and was followed by a relentless output of raw, genre-defying fiction. Over the course of his writing career, he’s self-published eleven novels, a novella, and a short story collection — each one taking risks and refusing to play it safe.
Though no longer writing fiction intensively, Ryan remains creatively active. He continues to write across other forms and channels his energy as frontman and lyricist for the electronic punk band Misery Prize, bringing the same edge and attitude to the stage as he did to the page. He lives and works in South Yorkshire, where the ideas never quite stop coming.
Visit www.miseryprizeband.co.uk to follow his musical endeavours.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 11, 2015
Violence, more violence, sex, sex with yourself, face masks made out of real faces, , MENstruation (get it?) , shit,…… tons more shit, serial killers, celebrities, drugs, an ENOURMOUS COCK, the owner of said cock riding it, Love, Hate, betrayal, candles being stuck up arses, , octogenarian sex and death by dildo, …..this is just a tiny glimpse of what this story holds.
The Switched is Ryan Bracha’s latest novel and in case you didn’t know it he is one of the most vibrant writers the UK has seen in years. He is funny as fuck and no doubt, deeply disturbed. He pulls no punches in his writing and this latest tale is his best yet.
The switched explodes (pun intended) into life right from the start and the relentless pace is continued throughout as we learn of how the lives of set of five main characters, Charles, Jake, Helen Francesca and Leonard are changed beyond belief when each of them (as the story unfolds) wakes up to discover they have swapped bodies with a complete stranger. Yes, you may have seen multiple shitty Disney type films with the same body swapping premise, but believe me the similarity stops there.
Bracha goes for the jugular from the outset. As with his other works, he doesn’t waste words for the sake of his art. Every page and chapter feels vital, exciting and darkly, darkly funny. You can just tell that he had a ball writing this…any shackles that may have been there before (and there weren’t many) have been shattered and he has unleashed a literary assault on us that left me begging for more. I am not going to divulge any more of the plot, I am just going to recommend that you read this if you like your humour to be dark and your violence and conflict to be relentless and excruciatingly stark.
I have no doubt that many people will find the book too shocking and possibly gratuitous, I also have no doubt Bracha will not give a fuck about those people and will be pissing his pants laughing at any such criticisms.
Honestly, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. My favourite read since Trainspotting, back in the 90’s. Not for the feint hearted or easily offended. Brilliant.
The Switched is Ryan Bracha’s latest novel and in case you didn’t know it he is one of the most vibrant writers the UK has seen in years. He is funny as fuck and no doubt, deeply disturbed. He pulls no punches in his writing and this latest tale is his best yet.
The switched explodes (pun intended) into life right from the start and the relentless pace is continued throughout as we learn of how the lives of set of five main characters, Charles, Jake, Helen Francesca and Leonard are changed beyond belief when each of them (as the story unfolds) wakes up to discover they have swapped bodies with a complete stranger. Yes, you may have seen multiple shitty Disney type films with the same body swapping premise, but believe me the similarity stops there.
Bracha goes for the jugular from the outset. As with his other works, he doesn’t waste words for the sake of his art. Every page and chapter feels vital, exciting and darkly, darkly funny. You can just tell that he had a ball writing this…any shackles that may have been there before (and there weren’t many) have been shattered and he has unleashed a literary assault on us that left me begging for more. I am not going to divulge any more of the plot, I am just going to recommend that you read this if you like your humour to be dark and your violence and conflict to be relentless and excruciatingly stark.
I have no doubt that many people will find the book too shocking and possibly gratuitous, I also have no doubt Bracha will not give a fuck about those people and will be pissing his pants laughing at any such criticisms.
Honestly, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. My favourite read since Trainspotting, back in the 90’s. Not for the feint hearted or easily offended. Brilliant.
June 9, 2015
It takes a certain sort of twisted genius to conceive a story like The Switched. Without a doubt Ryan Bracha is definitely the man for that task. This book is undoubtedly his most brilliant creation to date. As a fan of his previous works, I am stoked to see Bracha continuing to hone his craft by leaps and bounds. Employing his usual arsenal of morally flawed characters in inherently awkward situations, Bracha manages to up the game once again by navigating his talent into uncharted territory.
For example, there is the budding romance between two men... er, rather a man and a woman trapped in a man's body. There is humility in the face of adversity and angst under the omnipresent glare of the public spotlight. Redemption goes hand in hand with primal fear. In each player lurks a quality of blackness that resides only in the hearts of the desperate or those condemned. Bracha braves this logistical nightmare of managing this handful of otherwise unconnected souls and orchestrates them beautifully into a flowing, unforgettable masterpiece.
For example, there is the budding romance between two men... er, rather a man and a woman trapped in a man's body. There is humility in the face of adversity and angst under the omnipresent glare of the public spotlight. Redemption goes hand in hand with primal fear. In each player lurks a quality of blackness that resides only in the hearts of the desperate or those condemned. Bracha braves this logistical nightmare of managing this handful of otherwise unconnected souls and orchestrates them beautifully into a flowing, unforgettable masterpiece.
August 25, 2015
I wouldn't want to be Bracha. Not for anything. I feel sorry for him in the most profound way.
It's not the vacant expression sketched permanently on his face that elicits my sympathy for him. Nor the sagging, sweat-stained moob impression on his sad oasis-esque polo shirt.
It's not even the resigned way he carries himself, like only the most wretched shit-stain of a man who's accepted his slide into deep ugliness can affect.
Not even the rancid, gamey oily pungent Stench of his grimy Breath elicits my Pity. None of those are a patch on Bracha’s one true inescapable obstacle.
The sad fact is that Bracha has written his finest novel to date and will most likely never scratch at those heights again let alone improve on it.
That's what I'm telling myself at any rate, but the truth is that Bracha will do what he always does and go on developing his skills and pushing himself further from any comfort zone he could slip into.
Ryan Bracha is that sort of cheeky wide-o who asks for a blowy straight after he's been knocked back for a tit squeeze. He has no shame and no sense of limitations.
Unwilling to restrain himself to a single comfortable genre or writing style, Bracha has shoved all desire to settle into a formulaic groove aside and elevated his writing one more time. In The Switched, Bracha 'switches' effortlessly but never gratuitously between first and third person and present and past tense, as the story demands.
Many writers would struggle to maintain consistency with such changes, or overuse the mechanism, Ryan effortlessly (it’s not but it reads like it is) employs the shifting narrative and perspective to add urgency, humour and purpose to each scene.
Taking all the creativeness of Strangers are Just Friends You Haven't Killed Yet and follow-up Tomorrow's Chip Paper, Bracha throws in a hefty helping of technical skill- earned by hundreds of hours writing The Dead Man Series- to temper his surging imagination and desire to put his characters through the wringer for your entertainment.
What we have in The Switched is the perfect blend of creative flair with technical skill from a writer who is at the peak of his powers...so far.
The biggest development, for me, in Ryan's writing with The Switched is that Relationships are now front and centre and the driving force for the novel. Where in previous books, the story was the driving force for his characters, in The Switched, Bracha’s characters drive the story. The characterisation and development is exceptionally good in this novel.
That the sweetest, most compelling and real relationship in the book is between two men, one of whom is a woman inhabiting her partner's former body, is a testament to the author's new-found ability to expose the tender weakness of the true individual rather than the shell of the person.
Reading The Switched holds all the manky, unsettling, thrilling insidiousness of playing a game of 'just the tip' and leaves the reader wondering just how much more Ryan Bracha is still capable of."
It's not the vacant expression sketched permanently on his face that elicits my sympathy for him. Nor the sagging, sweat-stained moob impression on his sad oasis-esque polo shirt.
It's not even the resigned way he carries himself, like only the most wretched shit-stain of a man who's accepted his slide into deep ugliness can affect.
Not even the rancid, gamey oily pungent Stench of his grimy Breath elicits my Pity. None of those are a patch on Bracha’s one true inescapable obstacle.
The sad fact is that Bracha has written his finest novel to date and will most likely never scratch at those heights again let alone improve on it.
That's what I'm telling myself at any rate, but the truth is that Bracha will do what he always does and go on developing his skills and pushing himself further from any comfort zone he could slip into.
Ryan Bracha is that sort of cheeky wide-o who asks for a blowy straight after he's been knocked back for a tit squeeze. He has no shame and no sense of limitations.
Unwilling to restrain himself to a single comfortable genre or writing style, Bracha has shoved all desire to settle into a formulaic groove aside and elevated his writing one more time. In The Switched, Bracha 'switches' effortlessly but never gratuitously between first and third person and present and past tense, as the story demands.
Many writers would struggle to maintain consistency with such changes, or overuse the mechanism, Ryan effortlessly (it’s not but it reads like it is) employs the shifting narrative and perspective to add urgency, humour and purpose to each scene.
Taking all the creativeness of Strangers are Just Friends You Haven't Killed Yet and follow-up Tomorrow's Chip Paper, Bracha throws in a hefty helping of technical skill- earned by hundreds of hours writing The Dead Man Series- to temper his surging imagination and desire to put his characters through the wringer for your entertainment.
What we have in The Switched is the perfect blend of creative flair with technical skill from a writer who is at the peak of his powers...so far.
The biggest development, for me, in Ryan's writing with The Switched is that Relationships are now front and centre and the driving force for the novel. Where in previous books, the story was the driving force for his characters, in The Switched, Bracha’s characters drive the story. The characterisation and development is exceptionally good in this novel.
That the sweetest, most compelling and real relationship in the book is between two men, one of whom is a woman inhabiting her partner's former body, is a testament to the author's new-found ability to expose the tender weakness of the true individual rather than the shell of the person.
Reading The Switched holds all the manky, unsettling, thrilling insidiousness of playing a game of 'just the tip' and leaves the reader wondering just how much more Ryan Bracha is still capable of."
October 10, 2019
2.5 . I liked the premise not the execution.
August 17, 2015
WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE NO LONGER YOU?
I'm firmly of the opinion that Ryan Bracha must be a very sick man. Which doesn't say a lot for me either, given that I loved every last page of 'The Switched' and have no idea where the last 24 hours of my life have gone. Ironic, really, given what this book is all about.
Easily the most vulgar and far out novel that I've ever read, Ryan Bracha has taken 'The Switched' to places that I doubt very few authors would dare to go. Take five of society's most flawed and messed up individuals, switch their bodies whilst leaving their rather unstable minds firmly intact and what do you get? A genius novel is what you get.
Consider this: Charlie, an overweight, under confident lonely young man who has occasional suicidal thoughts whilst simultaneously refusing to end his life because of his love for his long gone girlfriend Gemma. Helen, a 19 year old prostitute who has no objection to putting candles in places where the sun doesn't shine. Francesca, an increasingly unstable yet highly popular TV personality who is fast losing her grip on reality. Jake, a twenty-something London stock broker who has it all - the luxury apartment, the Jaguar and 13 inches of sought after muscle. Leonard, the psychopathic throat-slitting mass murderer, currently incarcerated for his crimes against, well, practically everyone he meets. Switch the five bodies of these five personalities around and what follows is a ride that will stay with you long after you've read the last page.
There's no doubt about it - Ryan Bracha clearly writes for the enjoyment and sheer fun of it and because he can. He's so very clearly talented; this is something that's obvious and is reflected throughout this novel. I laughed so damn hard, I cringed, I laughed again but one thing's for sure - I loved this book. It's the first book of Ryan's that I've read - it will not be the last.
If you're easily offended, squeamish, prudish, or lack a sense of humour, then this isn't the book for you. There's no denying that it's crude, it's rude, it's downright vulgar in places. But what outshines all of this, is that fact that it's a damn fine piece of imaginatively creative writing. Live on the wild side, and download this now. I dare you.
I'm firmly of the opinion that Ryan Bracha must be a very sick man. Which doesn't say a lot for me either, given that I loved every last page of 'The Switched' and have no idea where the last 24 hours of my life have gone. Ironic, really, given what this book is all about.
Easily the most vulgar and far out novel that I've ever read, Ryan Bracha has taken 'The Switched' to places that I doubt very few authors would dare to go. Take five of society's most flawed and messed up individuals, switch their bodies whilst leaving their rather unstable minds firmly intact and what do you get? A genius novel is what you get.
Consider this: Charlie, an overweight, under confident lonely young man who has occasional suicidal thoughts whilst simultaneously refusing to end his life because of his love for his long gone girlfriend Gemma. Helen, a 19 year old prostitute who has no objection to putting candles in places where the sun doesn't shine. Francesca, an increasingly unstable yet highly popular TV personality who is fast losing her grip on reality. Jake, a twenty-something London stock broker who has it all - the luxury apartment, the Jaguar and 13 inches of sought after muscle. Leonard, the psychopathic throat-slitting mass murderer, currently incarcerated for his crimes against, well, practically everyone he meets. Switch the five bodies of these five personalities around and what follows is a ride that will stay with you long after you've read the last page.
There's no doubt about it - Ryan Bracha clearly writes for the enjoyment and sheer fun of it and because he can. He's so very clearly talented; this is something that's obvious and is reflected throughout this novel. I laughed so damn hard, I cringed, I laughed again but one thing's for sure - I loved this book. It's the first book of Ryan's that I've read - it will not be the last.
If you're easily offended, squeamish, prudish, or lack a sense of humour, then this isn't the book for you. There's no denying that it's crude, it's rude, it's downright vulgar in places. But what outshines all of this, is that fact that it's a damn fine piece of imaginatively creative writing. Live on the wild side, and download this now. I dare you.
June 19, 2015
My third foray into the weird and frightening world of Ryan Bracha, having previously devoured the first two thirds of the Dead Man Trilogy (I will be reading the third and final part the moment it’s published).
The Switched, his latest novel, is another gripping rollercoaster ride through the extreme world of Ryan Bracha’s twisted imagination where swearing, sex and violence liberally punctuate another highly original plot...
In a nutshell, groups of five people wake up one morning to find themselves living inside the body of someone else within the quintet. The Switched focuses on one disparate group of five who could not be more different and yet have to try to co-operate together in a mismatched marriage of inconvenience.
Ryan Bracha has delivered another increasingly tense, inspired and outrageous plot that kept me gripped through to the final page.
4/5
The Switched, his latest novel, is another gripping rollercoaster ride through the extreme world of Ryan Bracha’s twisted imagination where swearing, sex and violence liberally punctuate another highly original plot...
In a nutshell, groups of five people wake up one morning to find themselves living inside the body of someone else within the quintet. The Switched focuses on one disparate group of five who could not be more different and yet have to try to co-operate together in a mismatched marriage of inconvenience.
Ryan Bracha has delivered another increasingly tense, inspired and outrageous plot that kept me gripped through to the final page.
4/5
September 24, 2015
One summer morning, totally unconnected people wake up as somebody else. They have their names, their lives, and their problems. Nobody knows how or why it's happened, and nobody knows if or when they'll ever get their own lives back. They must quickly learn to accept, adapt to, and in some cases embrace their new personas, if they are to survive in a world where the people known as The Switched will do anything to get their old bodies back from others who will desperately do anything to protect their true identity, and hide deep behind their new face.
Against the backdrop of a nationwide search for popular television presenter Francesca O’Reilly, whose very public breakdown and disappearance sparks chaos on social media, it quickly becomes apparent that the switching phenomenon is far more widespread than anybody could have known, and The Switched become the most famous people in the country.
Ryan Bracha doesn’t write your average novel. Not by any stretch. With the exception of the Dead Man trilogy, each work he produces is different, but yet the same. By this I mean the subject matter varies from book to book, yet each is a challenging, in your face declaration of intent which he clearly has great fun writing.
Here’s an example. Authors have a tendency to put quotes up in their blurb from other writers or readers. Ninety nine times out of a hundred they’re positive statements to persuade the casual observer to buy. Not quite so Bracha:
“The use of gratuitous swearing actually offended my eyes...”
The Switched fits perfectly into this mold. As the description says it’s the story of five people who wake up one morning to find themselves in different bodies, ones which are nothing like their original selves. Each has quirks and instabilities which lead to an increasingly bizarre series of events laced with dark humour. And a significant amount of swearing.
Don’t expect this to be your average read.
Far from it…
**Originally reviewed for Books & Pals blog.**
Against the backdrop of a nationwide search for popular television presenter Francesca O’Reilly, whose very public breakdown and disappearance sparks chaos on social media, it quickly becomes apparent that the switching phenomenon is far more widespread than anybody could have known, and The Switched become the most famous people in the country.
Ryan Bracha doesn’t write your average novel. Not by any stretch. With the exception of the Dead Man trilogy, each work he produces is different, but yet the same. By this I mean the subject matter varies from book to book, yet each is a challenging, in your face declaration of intent which he clearly has great fun writing.
Here’s an example. Authors have a tendency to put quotes up in their blurb from other writers or readers. Ninety nine times out of a hundred they’re positive statements to persuade the casual observer to buy. Not quite so Bracha:
“The use of gratuitous swearing actually offended my eyes...”
The Switched fits perfectly into this mold. As the description says it’s the story of five people who wake up one morning to find themselves in different bodies, ones which are nothing like their original selves. Each has quirks and instabilities which lead to an increasingly bizarre series of events laced with dark humour. And a significant amount of swearing.
Don’t expect this to be your average read.
Far from it…
**Originally reviewed for Books & Pals blog.**
June 18, 2015
Reading the blurb you may be expecting a festering cauldron of perversion, obscenity, bodily fluids and every deviantly murderous coupling conceivable…Well, okay, welcome to the 'The Switched'. But there's a lot more going on here than that. While other writers try to out f*ck each other, they lack Bracha's creativity, imagination and intelligence. A good example is the jumping from third to first person, allowing the reader to really get inside the heads of the characters, hear their rage, fear, hopes and feel their pain, raising them above the two dimensional cartoons they may have become at the hands of a less skilled writer. I don’t want to give details of the wonderfully inventive plot away, I'd rather you discover them for yourselves, but it does contain an interesting spin on the phrase go f*ck yourself.
It's been said by others that he's a writer at the top of his game. I've read most of his work and have to agree that this is, in my opinion, his best so far. If you haven't read any of Brachas' work, start here and work back. A magnificent achievement.
It's been said by others that he's a writer at the top of his game. I've read most of his work and have to agree that this is, in my opinion, his best so far. If you haven't read any of Brachas' work, start here and work back. A magnificent achievement.
August 6, 2017
Loved it
I really did love this book. I had never read anything by this author and I found his writing very interesting. Many, many times I laughed out loud at some of the situations the characters found themselves in. I am still laughing! If you like weird stories and dark humor than buy this book.
I really did love this book. I had never read anything by this author and I found his writing very interesting. Many, many times I laughed out loud at some of the situations the characters found themselves in. I am still laughing! If you like weird stories and dark humor than buy this book.
January 9, 2018
Brilliant! Ryan Bracha is fast becoming one of my favourite authors..never disappoints..lots of violence sex drugs mixed into a love story and people on the run in different bosies
September 22, 2018
Flip.
Why is it authors are allowed to eff and cee constantly but I get upbraided for it, although I used asterisks not the full word. Anyway, my second review, as I was not allowed to use my first one, is still the same . What could, in my opinion, have been a brilliant book was ruined by the constant use of the f and c word. I just got bored by the lack of vocabulary and the crudity became too much. Shame really. Just not for me
Why is it authors are allowed to eff and cee constantly but I get upbraided for it, although I used asterisks not the full word. Anyway, my second review, as I was not allowed to use my first one, is still the same . What could, in my opinion, have been a brilliant book was ruined by the constant use of the f and c word. I just got bored by the lack of vocabulary and the crudity became too much. Shame really. Just not for me
August 1, 2016
A bunch of unrelated people are switched into different bodies (in groupings of five) in a weird one-off event. Gradually, violent circumstances and strong personalities bring them together for a brutal final act. Ryan Bracha's The Switched is great fun (so long as you've got a strong stomach). It's as different from the Dead Man trilogy as it is from the universe of Strangers Are Just Friends You Haven't Killed Yet, but the novel shares the sharp, cutting satirical edge and the tendency towards experimental prose and structure. The reasons for the switch are never made clear (it's possible that Bracha will reveal the reason in later books), so the focus is on the personalities. Bracha's characters are pretty much all unlikeable with the exception of Charlie/Jake, but good writing ensures that they go through interesting transformations (and I'm not just referring to the switch itself but dealing with gender and gender fluidity) and the story is compelling enough to keep you reading to the end.
Ryan Bracha is fast building up an interesting, diverse, and strong body of work. He seems to push himself from book to book – unwilling to settle for one genre or style of writing – and his back catalogue is all the better for it. The Switched is another strong addition to this and comes highly recommended.
Ryan Bracha is fast building up an interesting, diverse, and strong body of work. He seems to push himself from book to book – unwilling to settle for one genre or style of writing – and his back catalogue is all the better for it. The Switched is another strong addition to this and comes highly recommended.
September 21, 2017
Ryan Bracha is the only author I know that could pull this off. It's weird, crass, crude, offensive and many other heinous adjectives, featuring a host of thoroughly unlikable characters, and yet I was engaged throughout, finishing it in just a few sittings. It's a testament to Bracha's skills as a writer and a story-teller to accomplish that. I liked that he used the names of other Indie authors for minor characters; a nice touch. Not for the easily offended or prudish.
October 12, 2019
Another corker
Great pacing as ever from Ryan. Between this and the Dead Man Trilogy, I'd love to see an adaptation one day.
Great pacing as ever from Ryan. Between this and the Dead Man Trilogy, I'd love to see an adaptation one day.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews