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Rags
Atlantic City, 1982
One cold December night, sixteen-year-old Abby Lowell and her foster sister are rescued by a mysterious and deadly figure in rags and a large hood. Abby never learns his name and never sees his face, but he's obviously good with that black-bladed knife of his, very good.
Abby dubs him "Rags."
But Rags isn't done, not by a long shot. With her foster family under threat from the ruthless Bernards, who are determined to tear down their dilapidated hotel in favor of yet another casino, Abby finds herself in desperate need of a defender. A part of her is relieved when Rags returns to protect her again. And again. And again.
Now, with an army of thugs and a terrifying Voodoo witch hunting her, Abby must not only understand the dark truth behind Rags. She must accept that truth, frightening as it is, before it's too late.
One cold December night, sixteen-year-old Abby Lowell and her foster sister are rescued by a mysterious and deadly figure in rags and a large hood. Abby never learns his name and never sees his face, but he's obviously good with that black-bladed knife of his, very good.
Abby dubs him "Rags."
But Rags isn't done, not by a long shot. With her foster family under threat from the ruthless Bernards, who are determined to tear down their dilapidated hotel in favor of yet another casino, Abby finds herself in desperate need of a defender. A part of her is relieved when Rags returns to protect her again. And again. And again.
Now, with an army of thugs and a terrifying Voodoo witch hunting her, Abby must not only understand the dark truth behind Rags. She must accept that truth, frightening as it is, before it's too late.
- GenresHorrorYoung Adult
258 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2022
1 person is currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Ty Drago
27 books66 followersTy Drago is the author of 13 published novels, including the 5 book Undertakers series (MG horror), which is being adapted for the movies. More recently, his horror novel ST. DAMNED was released by Castle Ridge Media in January of 2025 and BLIND DOVATION, his installment novella in the System Paradoxa/Cryptic Crate series launched in February.
He's currently working on...well...a lot.
To find out more, you can try www.tydrago.com. He occasionally blogs.
He's currently working on...well...a lot.
To find out more, you can try www.tydrago.com. He occasionally blogs.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 7, 2024
Stars: 4 out of 5
I didn't know what to expect when I picked up this book. I knew it was horror, and I knew there was some kind of evil spirit involved. What I hadn't realized is just how much heart this novel would have.
Abby is a foster kid. She's been bounced from foster home to foster home all her life, until she finally ended up in her current foster home with another twelve foster kids that she calls her sibs. It's a good home, and her foster parents are good people. Problem is, the foster home is a run down hotel right on the broadwalk in Atlantic City, which is prime real estate for casinos and such. And bad people want that stretch of land, and they won't take no for an answer.
But Abby has a a dark power of her own, one she is terrified of, but that she will have to use if she wants to save her family.
I grew to really like Abby and her siblings and feel for them. I heard horror stories about the American foster system, and here the author managed to convey the point of view of a foster child pretty well. The helplessness, the need to have something that belongs to them in a world where all your possessions can fit in a trash bag and your whole world can be uprooted in a moment's notice by adults for whom you are just a number in the system. So when you find something good, something that feels like family, of course you will hang on to it for dear life.
And the mystery with Rags was intriguing and resolved in a satisfying manner. Rags isn't your run of the mill evil spirit. It didn't want to be a mindless killing machine in the service of a vodou practitioner. It wanted to tie itself to someone who had a moral compass. To become a guardian instead of a butcher.
There is still plenty of violence, mind you, preformed both by Rags and the bad guys. And the bad guys are truly villainous, even excessively so, I would say. I am not sure that crooked cop could have gotten away with as much as he did get away with, but then again, I am an optimist who believes that those who choose to serve (be it in the police or the military) do it mostly from altruistic reasons, apart from a few bad apples. But it sure makes it easy to root for Abby the underdog and cheer when Rags dishes out its brand of justice onto them.
The final choice Abby had to make to save her family was heart-wrenching but logical. There was really nothing else she could do. Yes, she could have run away and decided that it wasn't her problem, but having followed her from the beginning of this book, I knew that it wasn't a choice she could ever have made. And now her foster home has a guardian against all the evil people who want to harm her sibs and her adoptive mother.
PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I didn't know what to expect when I picked up this book. I knew it was horror, and I knew there was some kind of evil spirit involved. What I hadn't realized is just how much heart this novel would have.
Abby is a foster kid. She's been bounced from foster home to foster home all her life, until she finally ended up in her current foster home with another twelve foster kids that she calls her sibs. It's a good home, and her foster parents are good people. Problem is, the foster home is a run down hotel right on the broadwalk in Atlantic City, which is prime real estate for casinos and such. And bad people want that stretch of land, and they won't take no for an answer.
But Abby has a a dark power of her own, one she is terrified of, but that she will have to use if she wants to save her family.
I grew to really like Abby and her siblings and feel for them. I heard horror stories about the American foster system, and here the author managed to convey the point of view of a foster child pretty well. The helplessness, the need to have something that belongs to them in a world where all your possessions can fit in a trash bag and your whole world can be uprooted in a moment's notice by adults for whom you are just a number in the system. So when you find something good, something that feels like family, of course you will hang on to it for dear life.
And the mystery with Rags was intriguing and resolved in a satisfying manner. Rags isn't your run of the mill evil spirit. It didn't want to be a mindless killing machine in the service of a vodou practitioner. It wanted to tie itself to someone who had a moral compass. To become a guardian instead of a butcher.
There is still plenty of violence, mind you, preformed both by Rags and the bad guys. And the bad guys are truly villainous, even excessively so, I would say. I am not sure that crooked cop could have gotten away with as much as he did get away with, but then again, I am an optimist who believes that those who choose to serve (be it in the police or the military) do it mostly from altruistic reasons, apart from a few bad apples. But it sure makes it easy to root for Abby the underdog and cheer when Rags dishes out its brand of justice onto them.
The final choice Abby had to make to save her family was heart-wrenching but logical. There was really nothing else she could do. Yes, she could have run away and decided that it wasn't her problem, but having followed her from the beginning of this book, I knew that it wasn't a choice she could ever have made. And now her foster home has a guardian against all the evil people who want to harm her sibs and her adoptive mother.
PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 22, 2022
This was a page-turner and I wasn't ever sure what was coming next! The book starts out strong and just keeps building from there. I wasn't expecting it to have as much magic/supernatural elements as it did, but it somehow still felt really grounded in reality and just added to the story in a really interesting way. I liked how believable Abby was as a teenager, despite the incredibly dangerous and bloody situations that she kept getting into. She certainly was quite "street smart" but it made sense given her background. This book had a pretty big cast of characters, yet they all had really distinct voices and personalities and I really felt immersed in this fully fleshed out world.
[I received a free copy of this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program]
[I received a free copy of this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program]
September 15, 2022
Abby lives in a foster home - one of the good ones, where the foster parents actually care about the kids. When one night she and her foster sibling are attacked at the pier, they are saved by an unnaturally fast and strong being looking like a homeless person, whom Abby names 'Rags'. From now on Abby seems to have a strange connection to the mysterious Rags, and when the foster home is threatened to be taken by some dubious investors by force, Abby knows that only Rags will be able to help them. But is she willing to pay the price it will cost her?
I really liked the explanation of Rags' origin, how Abby was accidentally involved and how it all worked out in the end. Also, the mix of supernatural elements and family drama worked pretty well, and though some minor characters were stereotyped, Abby and Rags were shaped into convincing main characters. This was a fast, action-packed and blood-soaked, but also very moving drama about a girl and what she would do to keep her family save...
I really liked the explanation of Rags' origin, how Abby was accidentally involved and how it all worked out in the end. Also, the mix of supernatural elements and family drama worked pretty well, and though some minor characters were stereotyped, Abby and Rags were shaped into convincing main characters. This was a fast, action-packed and blood-soaked, but also very moving drama about a girl and what she would do to keep her family save...
August 29, 2022
Abby's early past is a mystery, but she has been a ward of the Atlantic City foster care system for over the last ten years of her life. A good chunk of that time has been spent in an old hotel-turned-foster home near The Boardwalk. And the place is home to her, one that becomes threatened by bad guys—violent men, the kind of violence that only greater violence can conquer, and Abby encounters just the hero who doles out that kind of salvation, if she's willing to pay the price for it.
I admit, I rolled my eyes when I thought this story was stacking up to be mom & pop vs. ruthless developers, the orphans vs. a heartless system, an it'd-be-a-shame-if-something-were-to-happen-to-your-family trope because ever since David and Goliath and right on through Snidely Whiplash has this territory been visited enough that it's been paved with infertile concrete.
Or so I thought.
But here, it works.
David had the Almighty, and Abby has Rags. Her family's conflict with the bad guys is only a vehicle for her developing relationship with Rags—his own mysterious origin, the effects they have on each other, their patience to communicate in spite of a language barrier, for goodness sake. Clues build unobtrusively and mysteries fall away at a natural pace. Abby speaks directly to the reader once in awhile, but neither does that feel out of place. Her foster family's rules balance out the chaotic violence, and we're reminded that one's fate is ultimately bound in whom you choose to trust.
I received a free copy of this book for the opportunity to review it, and I had the luxury to let it keep me up all night until I finished it. It was worth the reading hangover. I recommend it, especially if you like supernatural YA and urban exploration. There's a little bit of romance, but just enough to deepen the poignancy of the story.
I admit, I rolled my eyes when I thought this story was stacking up to be mom & pop vs. ruthless developers, the orphans vs. a heartless system, an it'd-be-a-shame-if-something-were-to-happen-to-your-family trope because ever since David and Goliath and right on through Snidely Whiplash has this territory been visited enough that it's been paved with infertile concrete.
Or so I thought.
But here, it works.
David had the Almighty, and Abby has Rags. Her family's conflict with the bad guys is only a vehicle for her developing relationship with Rags—his own mysterious origin, the effects they have on each other, their patience to communicate in spite of a language barrier, for goodness sake. Clues build unobtrusively and mysteries fall away at a natural pace. Abby speaks directly to the reader once in awhile, but neither does that feel out of place. Her foster family's rules balance out the chaotic violence, and we're reminded that one's fate is ultimately bound in whom you choose to trust.
I received a free copy of this book for the opportunity to review it, and I had the luxury to let it keep me up all night until I finished it. It was worth the reading hangover. I recommend it, especially if you like supernatural YA and urban exploration. There's a little bit of romance, but just enough to deepen the poignancy of the story.
September 5, 2022
Couldn’t put it down
September 18, 2022
Wow! I loved this book and can't wait to read more from this author. Much gorier and spookier than I would normally read. The fantasy aspect kept me able to read without (too many) nightmares.
December 20, 2022
Ty Drago always keeps the action moving and I never knew what was coming next. A page-turner!
December 24, 2023
Went into this one completely blind. Picked it up as part of a larger bundle more than a year ago. It did not disappoint.
Turns out this is some YA Horror - Violent Voodoo YA Horror set in 80s Atlantic City. Essentially a teenage girl in the foster system finds herself the benefactor of something or someone who wants to protect her and her foster family and it goes from there. It's a quick and easy read, very enjoyable. Recommend
Turns out this is some YA Horror - Violent Voodoo YA Horror set in 80s Atlantic City. Essentially a teenage girl in the foster system finds herself the benefactor of something or someone who wants to protect her and her foster family and it goes from there. It's a quick and easy read, very enjoyable. Recommend
October 25, 2023
3.5 Creepy, intriguing and packed with action. Even if you think you’ve figured it all out, the journey is worth it. The storyline, ending and character development all allow for a promising sequel. I hope the author is considering it.
October 23, 2022
Trigger warning: gore
Thank you to netgalley for giving this ARC, and this does not influence my review. The book was a thriller/paranormal book with a funny relatable FMC (she was hilarious). This book gave an inside look at an orphan’s life, the FMC was relatable and hilarious (no bs). Great writing style, loved the new chapter format.
Romance wasn’t really a part of the story, but for me the plot wasn’t enticing enough.
Thank you to netgalley for giving this ARC, and this does not influence my review. The book was a thriller/paranormal book with a funny relatable FMC (she was hilarious). This book gave an inside look at an orphan’s life, the FMC was relatable and hilarious (no bs). Great writing style, loved the new chapter format.
Romance wasn’t really a part of the story, but for me the plot wasn’t enticing enough.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews