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You Morbid Westphal 11/19/2009 11:21:38 PM
this is a review posted on Amazon from Jordan Krall, the author of "Piecemeal June, "Squid Pulp Blues" and most recently "Fistful of Feet". Like early Tom Piccirilli mixed with Edward Lee, November 10, 2009
By Jordan Krall "fan of bizarro, horror, noir, a... (Noir Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
I read and liked this author's first book PILATE. It was an impressive debut. But when I got this one, his second, I knew I had to expect more from Steven Rage. When reading novels, I always expect more from later books (and therefore am a little tougher when reviewing them) and I didn't want to be disappointed.
I was far from disappointed with this book. Like another reviewer said, Rage's first book, the style often got in the way of the story. With YOU MORBID WESTPHAL, Rage made sure to cut things down to the bone and tell the story more directly while still keeping his unique voice.
The plot sort of reminds me of early Tom Piccirilli horror novels. There's a certain ambiguous occultism involved that's very intriguing. There is also some hardcore grossness that is also reminiscent of Edward Lee. Not to say that Rage has imitated them, I just get that feeling from this book.....which is a good thing.
My only criticism is the length. If this is the first in a series of books, then the criticism is negated. But if it's a standalone, I'm just a little bit disappointed in not finding out more about some of the minor characters. They are all so interesting. Also, the ending is good and wraps everything up but I was hoping for something a bit less traditional. It still worked well and was a satisfying ending.
The setup of the book was unique, with each chapter being from a different point of view (You, Morbid, & Westphal). It might confuse people at first but then you get into it and it flows nicely.
Overall, this is an improvement over Rage's last book and is worth a read if you like bizarre horror novels. Get on the Rage train while you can because I have a feeling that he'll be getting bigger and bigger with each new book.
