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Painkiller Ghosts
After his girlfriend’s death, 30-something-year-old Thymothy X Exler moves back home with his mother, Suzanne, to get stability, and then changes his name to Thyme. While out walking, Thyme witnesses a tragedy that changes the direction of his life. Meanwhile, Suzanne is stalked and threatened by a man she dated briefly and Thyme takes matters into his own hands, with kitchen utensils. Soon, the man begins appearing in the lives of Thyme’s friends with disturbing consequences. Thyme begins to hear the jingle of his dog’s collar occasionally, but his dog died years ago. And then Chastity disrupts things even more.
- GenresFiction
210 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2010
5 people are currently reading
5015 people want to read
About the author
J. Marc Harding
2 books174 followersJ. Marc Harding is the author of the novels Painkiller Ghosts (2010) and Drowning in Sand (2016). He is currently working on another novel, watch for it in 2026. Marc lives near Richmond, Virginia. FoxDrive Media is developing a film adaptation of Painkiller Ghosts.
Marc is also a musician, singer/songwriter, and artist, check out his recordings online on BandCamp and SoundCloud. Want art? Find the JMarcHarding Etsy page.
www.JMarcHarding.com
Marc is also a musician, singer/songwriter, and artist, check out his recordings online on BandCamp and SoundCloud. Want art? Find the JMarcHarding Etsy page.
www.JMarcHarding.com
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 19, 2018
Everyone keeps saying I should expand my reading perimeters and read books outside my normal genre. This book would fall into that category. This book starts out pretty slow, but if you stay with it, it gets better as they introduce more characters. The book is pretty dark and probably wont leave you feeling good or laughing. You probably wont even crack a smile while reading this book. But I guess that is what the author is going for. I read some of the reviews before I read this book. A lot of people seem to really like it. Some people even said they can't wait to read it again. I'm not sure I fall into either of those categories. But I gave it a shot...TJ
February 25, 2021
I read this twice in attempt to fully absorb it. Fiction is not my thing so the key word here is, attempt. I have been addicted to painkillers so the theme was definitely hitting home and I very much enjoyed the story. The style of writing is bluntly unique and that's at the core of Painkiller Ghosts but there is also this low-key dreamy quality to the book that serves as helping the reader feel a sense of brain fog along with the massively relatable character, Thyme. This underlying dreamy quality perfectly mixed with down to earth situations and conversations made the whole thing just work and resonate. I also found the character of Suzanne, his mother, to be quite interesting. I was impressed with Harding's take on examining addiction, life in general, relationships, healing and new perspectives. This is one I will be recommending and am looking forward to Drowning in Sand, along with upcoming works from this talented author in the future. Cheers to painkiller ghosts.
March 12, 2019
Painkiller Ghosts
By J. Marc Harding
Genre - Fiction
Category - Psychological/Suspense/Thriller
Pages - 208
Publication Information - XLIBRIS - March 2, 2010
Format - Paperback
Reviewed by William C. Bitner, Jr. (https://booksinmylibraryblog.wordpres...)
Rating - 📙📙📙📙📙
This is my second read by J. Marc Harding and a few things are clear from his writing, his style of writing is very poetic and the flow and rhythm of the narrative is smooth and easy to digest. Also, he seems to like to skirt on the fringes of many different genres in one writing and refuses to be categorized by any one genre. Painkiller Ghosts is an intense and at time difficult read. While addiction is touched on, it is done in such a way that it makes sense to each of the characters lives, as well as being very real and believable. There’s also a very interesting paranormal element to this read (or is it a painkiller hallucination?) that will have your mind feeling a bit whip lashed. Marc is fast becoming an author that I for one want to see more from and will definitely be looking forward to his next piece of work. I love books that make a reader think and are not ruled by any literary rules of structure and genre and J. Marc Harding is one writer that is able to do that masterfully and skillfully. We could all use a few “Painkiller Ghosts” in our lives.
From the back cover: After his girlfriend's death, 30-something-year-old Thymothy X Exler moves back home with his mother, Suzanne, to get stability, and then changes his name to Thyme. While out walking, Thyme witnesses a tragedy that changes the direction of his life. Meanwhile, Suzanne is stalked and threatened by a man she dated briefly and Thyme takes matters into his own hands, with kitchen utensils. Soon, the man begins appearing in the lives of Thyme's friends with disturbing consequences. Thyme begins to hear the jingle of his dog's collar occasionally, but his dog died years ago. And then Chastity disrupts things even more.
About the author: Marc Harding lives in Richmond, VA. Marc graduated from James Madison University, concentrating in creative writing. At JMU, he served as photography editor for Gardy Loo! magazine, to which he contributed fiction, poetry, photography, and comics. Marc's prose and poetry has been featured in D.C.'s WordWrights!, and Richmond's Throttle magazines. Marc plays the upright bass in various Richmond-area bands; musical highlights include being runner up in a Virginia Folk Music Association bluegrass bass competition (first place is overrated) and having his picture in Bass Player Magazine. His resume ranges from public relations writer to bowling alley photographer to banker.
Other work by J. Marc Harding: Drowning in Sand
By J. Marc Harding
Genre - Fiction
Category - Psychological/Suspense/Thriller
Pages - 208
Publication Information - XLIBRIS - March 2, 2010
Format - Paperback
Reviewed by William C. Bitner, Jr. (https://booksinmylibraryblog.wordpres...)
Rating - 📙📙📙📙📙
This is my second read by J. Marc Harding and a few things are clear from his writing, his style of writing is very poetic and the flow and rhythm of the narrative is smooth and easy to digest. Also, he seems to like to skirt on the fringes of many different genres in one writing and refuses to be categorized by any one genre. Painkiller Ghosts is an intense and at time difficult read. While addiction is touched on, it is done in such a way that it makes sense to each of the characters lives, as well as being very real and believable. There’s also a very interesting paranormal element to this read (or is it a painkiller hallucination?) that will have your mind feeling a bit whip lashed. Marc is fast becoming an author that I for one want to see more from and will definitely be looking forward to his next piece of work. I love books that make a reader think and are not ruled by any literary rules of structure and genre and J. Marc Harding is one writer that is able to do that masterfully and skillfully. We could all use a few “Painkiller Ghosts” in our lives.
From the back cover: After his girlfriend's death, 30-something-year-old Thymothy X Exler moves back home with his mother, Suzanne, to get stability, and then changes his name to Thyme. While out walking, Thyme witnesses a tragedy that changes the direction of his life. Meanwhile, Suzanne is stalked and threatened by a man she dated briefly and Thyme takes matters into his own hands, with kitchen utensils. Soon, the man begins appearing in the lives of Thyme's friends with disturbing consequences. Thyme begins to hear the jingle of his dog's collar occasionally, but his dog died years ago. And then Chastity disrupts things even more.
About the author: Marc Harding lives in Richmond, VA. Marc graduated from James Madison University, concentrating in creative writing. At JMU, he served as photography editor for Gardy Loo! magazine, to which he contributed fiction, poetry, photography, and comics. Marc's prose and poetry has been featured in D.C.'s WordWrights!, and Richmond's Throttle magazines. Marc plays the upright bass in various Richmond-area bands; musical highlights include being runner up in a Virginia Folk Music Association bluegrass bass competition (first place is overrated) and having his picture in Bass Player Magazine. His resume ranges from public relations writer to bowling alley photographer to banker.
Other work by J. Marc Harding: Drowning in Sand
October 11, 2016
Wow! Holy Cow, this book was good! I devoured this book in one sitting. This is a must read book by an author who I now consider one of my favorites! His writing style is so different from any other author, and I loved it for that! Now please excuse me while I go read it again.
November 20, 2016
Interesting concept about how seeing ghosts can be therapeutic and ease your pain. This is the story of Thymothy (Thyme) whose girlfriend and dog have died. He moves back in with his mother and thinks he sees his girlfriend and hears his dog's tags jingling. His mother tells him that they are painkiller ghosts. He finds some comfort in this. He gets involved with a girl who has problems of her own. Her boyfriend committed suicide and she accidentally shoots Thyme. He recovers and becomes her friend. He has trouble keeping jobs and likes to walk around town in bare feet. An incident with his mother causes him to beat up a guy she worked with and this guy starts to exact his revenge. The story sounds complicated but it comes full circle. I would recommend this book to someone who wants a quirky but satisfying story.
May 21, 2014
Harding's distinct prose has a peppering of lyricism that delivers a one-of-a-kind tone, one of gallows humor and resigned acceptance of bittersweet fate.
Clever uses of synesthetic language all throughout-- important, I thought, since the story flirts with non-romance-romance and supernatural themes.
A most fluid verbal Venn diagram of distinctly-hewn characters' lives: their loves, losses, darknesses...read as certain jagged shards of their realities assemble and become complex, unique hope.
Clever uses of synesthetic language all throughout-- important, I thought, since the story flirts with non-romance-romance and supernatural themes.
A most fluid verbal Venn diagram of distinctly-hewn characters' lives: their loves, losses, darknesses...read as certain jagged shards of their realities assemble and become complex, unique hope.
November 23, 2010
A haunting tale of several lives intertwined into one unbelievable story. Well told, suspenseful. Great character development. Will keep the reader up late into the evening to find out what happens next. Some subject matter may be disturbing to some readers.
March 13, 2018
Thymothy X. Exler’s life (if you can call it a life) has been dark, tragic and sad.
After his girlfriend dies of a drug overdose on the bathroom floor, distraught, thirty-something Thymothy moves back home with his mother Suzanne. She’s a freelance writer and the queen of casual relationships, including the one with her son.
Thymothy changes his name to Thyme. He does his best to move on, trying to forget about his dog, Maria and their miscarried child.
One morning Thyme tells her he’s heard the jingling tags of his long-deceased dog’s collar and it made him feel better. “It was a weird, weird feeling,” he says. “I felt better, but I also felt like I had seen a ghost, but I didn’t see anything at all.” “You’re not crazy,” Suzanne says. “There are things we don’t comprehend, that we don’t see. But it’s okay; you just have to accept it.”
Addicted to pain pills, Thyme fumbles around, smoking pot and eventually gets a very part-time job at a grocery store with a sympathetic manager who lets him stock shelves at night. He takes long walks barefoot and finds himself enjoying photography.
While taking a walk, Thyme wanders into a nearly-deserted neighborhood, filled with homes for sale or foreclosure signs in front of them. He finds that one of the houses has some lights on and sits down in the yard. He begins daydreaming and eventually drifts off.
Thyme is startled awake by the sound of a gunshot, then a thud. That’s when he realizes the sound was a gunshot – and the cracking noise following the thud was a man, who is now laying dead in the driveway. And Thyme’s life gets complicated all over again.
Painkiller Ghosts is written in an interesting manner; it’s an unusual narrative, with various parts of Thymothy/Thyme’s life in the the past and present. It may take a bit of adjustment for some readers, though it makes perfect sense in telling Thyme’s story. I found myself pronouncing Thyme as Tim like the name vs. thyme the herb.
Though fictional, the characters are believable, resilient and complicated. Sometimes I saw parts of people I know in them; other times, parts of myself. I felt a great deal of sympathy (but not pity) for Thyme.
I had a really hard time putting this book down – even late at night knowing I had to get up early for work the next day. I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen, or what story of Thyme’s bizarre world would be told next.
After his girlfriend dies of a drug overdose on the bathroom floor, distraught, thirty-something Thymothy moves back home with his mother Suzanne. She’s a freelance writer and the queen of casual relationships, including the one with her son.
Thymothy changes his name to Thyme. He does his best to move on, trying to forget about his dog, Maria and their miscarried child.
One morning Thyme tells her he’s heard the jingling tags of his long-deceased dog’s collar and it made him feel better. “It was a weird, weird feeling,” he says. “I felt better, but I also felt like I had seen a ghost, but I didn’t see anything at all.” “You’re not crazy,” Suzanne says. “There are things we don’t comprehend, that we don’t see. But it’s okay; you just have to accept it.”
Addicted to pain pills, Thyme fumbles around, smoking pot and eventually gets a very part-time job at a grocery store with a sympathetic manager who lets him stock shelves at night. He takes long walks barefoot and finds himself enjoying photography.
While taking a walk, Thyme wanders into a nearly-deserted neighborhood, filled with homes for sale or foreclosure signs in front of them. He finds that one of the houses has some lights on and sits down in the yard. He begins daydreaming and eventually drifts off.
Thyme is startled awake by the sound of a gunshot, then a thud. That’s when he realizes the sound was a gunshot – and the cracking noise following the thud was a man, who is now laying dead in the driveway. And Thyme’s life gets complicated all over again.
Painkiller Ghosts is written in an interesting manner; it’s an unusual narrative, with various parts of Thymothy/Thyme’s life in the the past and present. It may take a bit of adjustment for some readers, though it makes perfect sense in telling Thyme’s story. I found myself pronouncing Thyme as Tim like the name vs. thyme the herb.
Though fictional, the characters are believable, resilient and complicated. Sometimes I saw parts of people I know in them; other times, parts of myself. I felt a great deal of sympathy (but not pity) for Thyme.
I had a really hard time putting this book down – even late at night knowing I had to get up early for work the next day. I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen, or what story of Thyme’s bizarre world would be told next.
June 26, 2018
This is one of those books that at first you think you will not enjoy it at all. Now it's now and you wonder how it so quickly pulled you into caring about these characters. You wait for what you know is coming like watching a train wreck, yet little birds keep flying in to keep you distracted but interested. I have not read this style of writing before, which may be why I had to adjust to it. It was worth it. I will now seek out his other book needing a taste for more.
November 29, 2016
I received this book through a goodreads giveaway, and man, am I happy I won! This is unlike anything I've ever read but I was drawn into this book from the start and the main character had some experiences I can relate to (probably a good reason why I was drawn into it). I will definitely re-read this book!
November 1, 2010
I was very surprised how well this book was. Thyme and Chastity are great characters along with a few more that keep your engrossed in the book. With so many thrills and mystery there is something for everyone.
February 25, 2014
This is an excellent fast paced read with characters and subplots that draw you in and keep you connected. At first the writing style may seem a bit quirky, but hang in there, because Harding ties it all together in a neat little package...waiting for the new book soon!
May 16, 2014
This book is great. Tough to follow at first, but everything ties together and makes sense. I actually enjoy the style of writing, it's different and unique. Looking forward to his next book! I can't wait until it's released!!
November 29, 2020
Review coming.
January 31, 2017
While these are not the type of characters I would normally seek out in a novel, the narrative style kept my interest. I do hope Chastity uses her tag line less in the movie version or at least has more variety. I received this in a Goodread's giveaway, for which I'm very grateful. These giveaways, including those I don't win, always expose me to works I otherwise would never have known to look out for.
September 19, 2017
A real pull you in plot that was completely fascinating with a hint that fear was eminent at any moment. How much fear would depend on the readers capacity to be frightened easily or seeking the thrill. Quite a marvelous read most certainly. I definitely will re-read that journey to pleasure.
September 9, 2025
*I received a free copy via Goodreads giveaways*
I was really teetering between 2 and 3 stars for this book. The writing style was unique and added to the immersion of the story. However, there were several grammatical/spelling errors that I didn’t find to be intentional (I.e. “then” when it should be “than, “could care less”, etc.). The story was great and definitely one to reread to feel the full effect.
I was really teetering between 2 and 3 stars for this book. The writing style was unique and added to the immersion of the story. However, there were several grammatical/spelling errors that I didn’t find to be intentional (I.e. “then” when it should be “than, “could care less”, etc.). The story was great and definitely one to reread to feel the full effect.
March 28, 2019
This book was different. It has a lot of twist and goes off the wall but was a very good book. Look for the chance to read some more of his books.
February 11, 2017
I won this novel in a Goodreads giveaway, and I'm actually sad that I won it, as I didn't really enjoy it. I wish that it had been won by someone who would like it more.
The book was well written with a good story line, but I didn't really care about or like any of the characters, except for Linc, who was introduced very late in the book. I'm not sure if it was the author's aim to make most of the characters almost completely unlikable, or if they just rubbed me the wrong way. I guess I should have known better than to read a book called Painkiller Ghosts over the couple days before Christmas.
A few syntax errors and typos were present in the book, and the many, many uses of parentheses and repetitions got on my nerves ("I'm a virgin, not an angel." referring to Chastity was cute the first few times, but got old really fast.)
I will be donating this to my library's used book sale in the hopes that it is enjoyed by someone else.
Thank you for choosing me as a recipient in the Goodreads giveaway, Marc, and I would read another of your books as you're a decent writer, but I just didn't love this one.
The book was well written with a good story line, but I didn't really care about or like any of the characters, except for Linc, who was introduced very late in the book. I'm not sure if it was the author's aim to make most of the characters almost completely unlikable, or if they just rubbed me the wrong way. I guess I should have known better than to read a book called Painkiller Ghosts over the couple days before Christmas.
A few syntax errors and typos were present in the book, and the many, many uses of parentheses and repetitions got on my nerves ("I'm a virgin, not an angel." referring to Chastity was cute the first few times, but got old really fast.)
I will be donating this to my library's used book sale in the hopes that it is enjoyed by someone else.
Thank you for choosing me as a recipient in the Goodreads giveaway, Marc, and I would read another of your books as you're a decent writer, but I just didn't love this one.
January 11, 2020
This book took a little to get into, but the characters grow on you. He experiences loss in his life and has to learn how to deal with life differently. Stan keeps getting more and more evil and Thyme may have set that all in motion. Will they deal with him and get on with their lives or will the dwell on the loss that they all experience, and are they seeing ghosts. I did not expect the ending.
January 22, 2017
I won this book through Goodreads. Wow. Really entertaining. Lots of twists that keep you engaged and guessing until the very end. Loved it.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews