It’s 1982. The narrator, Steve Witowski (an alias), is a failed songwriter and fugitive, already attempting to flee his previous. One evening he intervenes to avoid wasting a girl named Victoria from a brutal assault by a seemingly unstoppable attacker.
Quite than transferring on, Steve turns into entangled with Victoria, who has simply bought a dilapidated church with a darkish, haunting previous. As Steve stays on to assist with the renovation and the mysteries of the place, he discovers that Victoria–and the church–are on the heart of one thing way more sinister: occult rituals, grave-robbed secrets and techniques, a sorcerer’s bones, and a demon rising determined.
On the identical time Steve’s personal guilt and haunted previous draw him deeper: the face of a person he killed seems on his arm, blurring the road between what’s actual and what’s nightmare. The result’s a wild experience via supernatural horror, darkish magic, and private reckoning, with Steve pressured to query whether or not the unusual phenomena are delusion—or far worse.
From the opening pages, The Nice Dick pulled me into its raucous world with sudden pressure. The 1982 setting, with its light rock-star desires and neon-tinged desperation, offers the story a gritty, off-kilter taste that units it other than customary occult noir. The writer’s resolution to heart issues round an abundantly flawed protagonist — a failed songwriter on the run; a scruffy, seedy descendant of Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John — permits for real rigidity: you don’t belief him fully, however you’re invested in how he handles the chaos he stumbles into.
What I appreciated most is the best way the narrative blends humor and horror. Steve’s sardonic voice (he is aware of he’s not a hero) offers most of the early scenes a darkly comedic edge, but the story steadily shifts into one thing deeply unsettling. The second when the supernatural parts begin to chew — when Steve begins to see proof that the occult is actual, grief and guilt converge, and the church’s buried previous actually rises to hang-out him — that’s when the e-book hit full throttle. The oscillation between “that is absurd” and “this feels terrifyingly actual” is dealt with with confidence. For a reader wanting thrills, wild turns, and a few laughs within the combine, it delivers.
Characters are messy and unpredictable, which works superbly right here. Victoria is particularly intriguing — initially a damsel-in-distress determine, however quickly you notice she might have her personal agenda, her personal secrets and techniques — which makes their shared journey into the occult all of the extra compelling. Steve’s inner struggles (working from his previous, questioning actuality, going through uncanny horrors) are rendered with sufficient texture to really feel actual even within the wildest moments. The e-book’s willingness to be loud, wild and uncompromising is one in all its strengths.
Sure, the plot is bold — and at instances it could really feel just a little sprawling. However for me that was a part of the allure. The combination of grave-looting, haunted structure, demonic rituals, a killer’s ghostly visage, and a supernatural parasite-type entity creates an environment of disorientation that fits the story’s themes of guilt, worry, and the boundaries of perception. The e-book isn’t delicate, and it doesn’t faux to be a quiet psychological horror — it’s a roller-coaster. If you happen to go in anticipating calm, you’ll be shocked; if you need weird, relentless enjoyable, you’re in for a deal with.
The plot is operatic in scope — virtually Wagnerian (or Meat Loaf-ian, to be extra exact). Whereas that complexity may really feel just a little wild at instances, for me it added to the immersive feeling of being pulled into one thing unusual and unsettling. The writer doesn’t shrink back from daring imagery, creepy moments, or a way that the world is tilting unpredictably. Characters are flawed, messy, and actual in their very own odd methods. The supporting parts (previous crimes, occult threads, the eerie setting) really feel well-layered. It may possibly really feel busy, smug, self-satisfied, and overwhelming, and its fashion might be an acquired style for some – or, alternatively – it’d really feel like tasting mama’s home-cooking for the primary time in a protracted whereas if that is the sort of madcap, irreverent horror you grew up on.
In brief: in case you’re in search of horror with angle — darkish humor, an 80s taste, supernatural dread, a narrator who’s extra anti-hero than saint — this e-book delivers. It might not be the quietest or most contemplative learn, however for what it’s — a fast-paced, oddball, entertaining thriller-horror mash-up — it succeeds. I’d undoubtedly encourage others to provide it a attempt.
If you happen to’re in search of a horror novel that has angle, coronary heart and no scarcity of weirdness, that is undoubtedly one to choose up. It balances its absurd premise with real environment, sturdy narrative voice, and a last sense of payoff that feels earned. I’d fortunately suggest it to anybody who enjoys supernatural thrillers, Eighties nostalgia, flawed heroes, and creeping dread with a smile. Like its protagonist, it’s not good — and who’s? – however for what it units out to be, it’s a really satisfying experience.
