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Bad Blood
Fraternal twins Arlo and Austin Wade--the sons of a serial killer father and an insane mother--unleash their horrific legacy of evil on the town of Huntington.
346 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 7, 2023
Fowler returns to the Wade family here and must have decided that What's Wrong With Valerie? and What's Wrong With Tamara? were too tame as she turns up the madness to eleven here. This is set about 10 years after WWWT. WWWT ended with Tamara giving birth to two boys (twins) in a mental hospital, unsure if their father was the cannibal/serial killer Micah or her brother Todd. In any case, they were adopted by Tamara's father (now blind due to Tamara's BBs from WWWT) and Simone, whose son Micah killed and ate also in WWWT.
The story centers on the two boys-- Arlo and Austin. Austin is more than a little slow, but basically just a normal kid; Arlo, however, seems to have inherited some of the bad blood from his mama if not his father Micah as well. Right from the get go, we know Arlo is a depraved sociopath only looking out for number one, even at age 10. This novel is like The Bad Seed on steroids; no, more like the Bad Seed with rocket fuel.
So, we have Tamara and Micah locked up in the local loonie bin and in the Wade house (formerly Valerie's house) we have Jonathan and Simone, married, and now with a 5 y.o. girl they spoil like a princess. We also have the severely traumatized Jennifer (Valarie's sister) who basically sings awful country music songs and that is about it. Simone's daughter Summer is now in her teens and shares a room with Jennifer and also helps out her mom at her gift shop. We have Jonathan's granny-in-law from his previous marriage, who is quite senile. The boys live up in the attic (yes, the attic that Valerie locked Tamara in with the dead body in WWWV). Finally, we also have a live in housemaid who lives in a converted porch off the kitchen.
The book starts off with Arlo getting his senile granny all worked up that she is late for work; his goal is to get her out of the house and run down in the street so he can see some blood. He is also conniving ways to make some serious cash so he can buy cool video games and an AC unit for the attic. First, he thinks about how he can pimp out Jennifer (or maybe Summer) and things go from bad to worse. Meanwhile, Tamara manages to escape from the loonie bin with a seriously bad customer named Vic and hole up just down the street from the Wade abode...
Fowler sets up the perfect bloody storm and oh my does she deliver the goods. I will not go into the many graphic types of foo Arlo and his mom get into her, but she definitely upped her game more than a little. That fact, coupled with the wicked dark humor permeating the novel, produced a novel of stunning depravity and madness that nonetheless had me laughing throughout. Arlo is a wicked protagonist but strangely enough, Fowler makes Tamara rather tame here, filled if not with remorse, but at least not making her a sociopath. My only complaint with the otherwise lovely Capricorn Literary paperback edition I have concerns the striking number of typos and such-- come on, you revived a splendid trashy novel for a wider audience (kudos) and then skimped on a copy editor. Really a must for fans of extreme horror; this would make Richard Laymon blush. 4.5 stars!!
The story centers on the two boys-- Arlo and Austin. Austin is more than a little slow, but basically just a normal kid; Arlo, however, seems to have inherited some of the bad blood from his mama if not his father Micah as well. Right from the get go, we know Arlo is a depraved sociopath only looking out for number one, even at age 10. This novel is like The Bad Seed on steroids; no, more like the Bad Seed with rocket fuel.
So, we have Tamara and Micah locked up in the local loonie bin and in the Wade house (formerly Valerie's house) we have Jonathan and Simone, married, and now with a 5 y.o. girl they spoil like a princess. We also have the severely traumatized Jennifer (Valarie's sister) who basically sings awful country music songs and that is about it. Simone's daughter Summer is now in her teens and shares a room with Jennifer and also helps out her mom at her gift shop. We have Jonathan's granny-in-law from his previous marriage, who is quite senile. The boys live up in the attic (yes, the attic that Valerie locked Tamara in with the dead body in WWWV). Finally, we also have a live in housemaid who lives in a converted porch off the kitchen.
The book starts off with Arlo getting his senile granny all worked up that she is late for work; his goal is to get her out of the house and run down in the street so he can see some blood. He is also conniving ways to make some serious cash so he can buy cool video games and an AC unit for the attic. First, he thinks about how he can pimp out Jennifer (or maybe Summer) and things go from bad to worse. Meanwhile, Tamara manages to escape from the loonie bin with a seriously bad customer named Vic and hole up just down the street from the Wade abode...
Fowler sets up the perfect bloody storm and oh my does she deliver the goods. I will not go into the many graphic types of foo Arlo and his mom get into her, but she definitely upped her game more than a little. That fact, coupled with the wicked dark humor permeating the novel, produced a novel of stunning depravity and madness that nonetheless had me laughing throughout. Arlo is a wicked protagonist but strangely enough, Fowler makes Tamara rather tame here, filled if not with remorse, but at least not making her a sociopath. My only complaint with the otherwise lovely Capricorn Literary paperback edition I have concerns the striking number of typos and such-- come on, you revived a splendid trashy novel for a wider audience (kudos) and then skimped on a copy editor. Really a must for fans of extreme horror; this would make Richard Laymon blush. 4.5 stars!!
July 15, 2021
Holy hell. The best of the series, IMO. Easily the darkest of the bunch. Debra Fowler WAS punk rock. Lethal comic anarchy. Pure "no rules" attitude. I'm in awe of the pessimism.
July 17, 2023
Ten year old twins, Austin and Arlo Wade are the sons of infamous serial killers, Tamara Wade and Micah Steiner, both currently confined to Huntington State Hospital. As the twins - who clearly take after their parents - delight in everything from playing cruel pranks on their elderly dementia-ridden grandmother, to pimping out their mentally handicapped Aunt Jennifer, their parents plot a way to escape from the mental hospital.
Lo and behold, Tamara and another patient, Vic, a self-proclaimed "scientist" of sorts, actually manage to escape from the hospital. They take up residence in an abandoned house, as close as they can get to Tamara's kids. While the twins are up to their own twisted hijinks, Tamara and Vic begin to kidnap members of Tamara's family for Vic to perform his "experiments" on.
In this last book of the trilogy, will there be anyone in the family left alive and unscathed, or are they all doomed to the same terrible fate at the hands of the Wades?
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Once again, a slam dunk for D. A. Fowler; another great addition. I can't believe I'm finally saying goodbye to the Wade family. I liked the twisted surprise at the end, a kind of karma for at least one evil member of the family.
Overall, I can't even express in words how much I LOVED this sick, twisted, hilarious trilogy. Don't wait, go buy them all right now. The originals are expensive and hard to find, but have been re-printed recently, so you have no excuse!
This trilogy is so unique and different, and I just had so much fun with it. Each time I finished one, I didn't think the next one could possibly be as good, but it was, somehow. If I had to pick, I'd say the middle one (What's Wrong with Tamara?) is my favorite - although they're all amazing.
I wish so much this author had way more books than she does, and it saddens me deeply to think one day soon I'll finish all her work, but I have no doubt l revisit every single one of them, either.
Lo and behold, Tamara and another patient, Vic, a self-proclaimed "scientist" of sorts, actually manage to escape from the hospital. They take up residence in an abandoned house, as close as they can get to Tamara's kids. While the twins are up to their own twisted hijinks, Tamara and Vic begin to kidnap members of Tamara's family for Vic to perform his "experiments" on.
In this last book of the trilogy, will there be anyone in the family left alive and unscathed, or are they all doomed to the same terrible fate at the hands of the Wades?
---------------------
Once again, a slam dunk for D. A. Fowler; another great addition. I can't believe I'm finally saying goodbye to the Wade family. I liked the twisted surprise at the end, a kind of karma for at least one evil member of the family.
Overall, I can't even express in words how much I LOVED this sick, twisted, hilarious trilogy. Don't wait, go buy them all right now. The originals are expensive and hard to find, but have been re-printed recently, so you have no excuse!
This trilogy is so unique and different, and I just had so much fun with it. Each time I finished one, I didn't think the next one could possibly be as good, but it was, somehow. If I had to pick, I'd say the middle one (What's Wrong with Tamara?) is my favorite - although they're all amazing.
I wish so much this author had way more books than she does, and it saddens me deeply to think one day soon I'll finish all her work, but I have no doubt l revisit every single one of them, either.
June 7, 2016
This was a dark, dark book. Kinda left a bitter taste in my mouth towards the end because in a sick kinda way, there was no happy ending. I don't even know if that makes sense..lol. Lots of crazies and interesting plots. If you are offended by things happening to young children, this prob isn't your cup of tea. I'm sad that this was the conclusion to a pretty great trilogy. I would prob read them again someday and the tale was pretty well crafted. I'll definitely be searching for more of her books.
February 5, 2008
This is the third book in a trilogy by D. A. (or Debra) Fowler. I actually had no idea there was a third book until recently so I had to track it down. I loved the first two. This one was good. I enjoyed it and it had many of the same characters as the last one. I did think that the others were better.
In general, I think the author is amazing and I'm sad that she does not write anymore as far as I can tell. Her books had so many "how the hell did she think of that?" moments. I had never read anything so inventive before or since.
In general, I think the author is amazing and I'm sad that she does not write anymore as far as I can tell. Her books had so many "how the hell did she think of that?" moments. I had never read anything so inventive before or since.
May 10, 2022
This was a long book but I loved it!! Very good I don't really talk about the book as it is everything on the blurb, but I will say *Spoiler Alert* Arlo and Austin are horrible kids they get their comeuppance for what it's worth yes!!!! Here is my short brief review of this book:
(for those who don't know this is the third and final book in the 'What's Wrong With Valerie?' series. In book order it's 'What's wrong with Valerie?' then 'What's Wrong With Tamara?' and then finally it's this book 'Bad Blood' if you don't read these two before this one you will get very lost very quickly)
"Bad Blood by D A Fowler" captured my imagination immediately, The book begins following on from 'What's wrong with Tamara' this book follows Tamara's children Arlo and Austin and also features Tamara now in a mental hospital. The book continues to follow her children and then Tamara and her new best friend Vic a mental lunatic escape the hospital and it goes from there 0 to 100 miles an hour honestly guys from then on, it is breathtaking everything happens at once twists happen and it's like being on a rollercoaster then you get goosebumps down your spine, I was falling asleep reading it because it's a thick book but so so good, it would be 5am until I had to put the book down and return to it in the morning like a drug. I can't say anymore without ruining it all for anyone but it is a brilliant book well recommend
Thank you for reading this I hope you pick this up 👍
Five stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
(for those who don't know this is the third and final book in the 'What's Wrong With Valerie?' series. In book order it's 'What's wrong with Valerie?' then 'What's Wrong With Tamara?' and then finally it's this book 'Bad Blood' if you don't read these two before this one you will get very lost very quickly)
"Bad Blood by D A Fowler" captured my imagination immediately, The book begins following on from 'What's wrong with Tamara' this book follows Tamara's children Arlo and Austin and also features Tamara now in a mental hospital. The book continues to follow her children and then Tamara and her new best friend Vic a mental lunatic escape the hospital and it goes from there 0 to 100 miles an hour honestly guys from then on, it is breathtaking everything happens at once twists happen and it's like being on a rollercoaster then you get goosebumps down your spine, I was falling asleep reading it because it's a thick book but so so good, it would be 5am until I had to put the book down and return to it in the morning like a drug. I can't say anymore without ruining it all for anyone but it is a brilliant book well recommend
Thank you for reading this I hope you pick this up 👍
Five stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2011
Campy horror.
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