James Newman, y’all! If you are not reading him or have not heard of him, then you need to rectify that! This is my fourth book of his I have read and they have all been 5-star reads! And bonus: he’s super cool and interactive on Instagram and Twitter! Ok, so back to this book. The cover lists it as “White Trash Noir,” and I had no idea what that meant.

But after about 30 pages or so I was able to. Unlike Newman’s other books I have read, this one is not “super horror”-esque, for lack of better terminology. This reads like a pulpy, shocking, gory thriller. And it’s about a disfigured ex-pro wrestler in some town with strip clubs with no names, trailer parks, and criminals like “Coko Puff” and “Daddy.” Make a little more sense now?

This. Book. Is. Incredible! I really would like Nick Bullman to become the lead in a SERIES of books by Newman (wink wink if you are reading this, sir!!!) He was living the high life. Famous. Seemingly good looking. A ladies man. You name it. Basically he was a wrestler who could do whatever he wanted and get away with anything. Kind of like Hulk Hogan or John Cena.

Then he pulled the shit straw and ended turned out a man who reminded me of Mickey Rourke’s character in Sin City. A teddy bear of a man underneath a haggard facade. Someone you would not necessarily want to strike up a conversation with and stuff, but also DEFINITELY not someone you would ever want to piss off for fear of dismemberment, lots of pain, and death.

Newman has a way of telling incredible, page-turning stories. I fly through his books effortlessly because of how enriching the stories are. An author I randomly ran across on Instagram, James Newman has worked himself into my top favorite authors list (a list which, might I add, includes Sai King, himself!)

I was excited to discover that Newman has another side to him other than horror. While I love horror and HIS horror, knowing that he has another layer to his writing just means that he can write THAT much more and tell so many more stories.

So.. what have we learned? Newman is multi-faceted in his writing genres. He can drop Easter eggs to other books of his and make a reader giddy. And his books, horror or pulpy, white trash noir, offer a glimpse into the darkest parts of our humanity. You know who else does that? Stephen King. Yea, I SAID IT. AND I WON’T TAKE IT BACK! GO read him!