A bit too much sex

I found the amount of sexual references completely distracting, but I suppose people might like that kind of thing.
Great general story. Gratuitous sex. Well written.

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Narration almost ruined it for me

The story was good, really different and intriguing. And leads you to places you don’t expect. What almost blew it for me was the narrator, the way he read the women, fast talking and annoying as tho they all sounded the same. Just one more thing…way too many “Baby”’s especially towards the end. Who talks like that???

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Definitely a good read

Your writing style is super good. I don’t know how many books you’ve written or how long you’ve been writing but it doesn’t sound amateur at all (if that makes sense) and you don’t “over-“ or “under-describe” any part of the story and its characters, nor do you use too much or too little of anything when analogizing, choosing words, metaphorizing, etc. I never once sat in (bad) judgement on how it was written and from just a casual reader’s perspective it sounded like a good book- nothing caught my attention or stuck out (in a negative way.)
The story was interesting and definitely kept me going. I find myself bored with books about 50% of the time, but I definitely did want to find out what was going to happen next and didn’t get bored with this one except for the one part where Jack is monologuing about Jerry while they’re at the zoo.
That being said, there was too much sex for my liking. Personally, I would’ve liked to see a wider spectrum in terms of the theme of the story, as it seemed to me that most of the story was carried mostly by the use of sex positively and negatively. The rape(s) and sexual slavery in the “Hellfire” secret society didn’t deter me as much as the fact that Jack seemed to think about sex more than anything else, Amy definitely spent most of her time thinking about it, and throughout the book there are details on women’s bodies specifically that are thrown in there seemingly unnecessarily.
Now, I did look at it from another perspective - Jack is obviously a sex addict and that’s why so much of the book is geared around sex. So, in that regard, this aspect of the story was written very well. In fact, this and his blatant-but-not-blatant sexism was written so well that I ended up hating him. From that perspective, it’s very admirable how much depth he has and how many times I went back-and-forth on liking him and not liking him - I think it’s an underused motif to make the main character unlikeable and out of the few books that have done it, this was one of the best ones I’ve read.
Finally, I did not like the narrator. His voice was a bit too grating and didn’t match Jack.

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A true psychological thriller

I was hooked from the very beginning of this book. The writing itself is wonderfully crafted and illustrates beautiful and sometimes terrifying scenes throughout the story. I was committed to the characters and their trajectories and was struck with the author's ability to delve deep into each character's mind and thought process. Giving the sense the characters were actually real people and that the book itself was not entirely fiction. The author delivers a book ready to be devoured with unsettling undertones and stimulating content that will keep you hooked from page one.

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On the edge of my seat (almost) the whole time!

There are a couple chapters in the beginning where monologuing take over and it left me waiting for it to get on with it. I found that this, in no way, ended up detracting from the book. Over the course of the story, the monologues guide the reader on the journey and I came to enjoy them. This helped flesh out the characters, making them very real rather than 2-dimensional. You could hate a character but know exactly where they're coming from.

Beyond that, the story itself is a beautiful mix of gritty realism and what I would call supernatural. It has almost a DaVinci Code-esque background lore that hooked me in. The plot touches on typical horror elements without being campy or too predictable.

Each climax along the way leads into the next until you're going "This is fucking crazy!" "What the hell's next?" but in a good way. You want to know how it ends, how could all this possibly get un-fudged up.

I highly recommend this book to any thriller or mystery fans. My friend and I were reading it in tandem and each new mystery unfolding or plot thickening gave us lots to discuss.

My only caution is that there's a lot of mention and talk of sex, rape and torture - you don't have to "witness" it, but fair warning. Many of the sexual themes tie into the story, so fair game. There were some moments where women were described in great detail, that served to objectify them. This made a lot of sense from the main character's view point. Unfortunately, that kind of language bridged into non-sexual benign moments such as a friendly hug shared between a young woman and her roommate - - why mention breasts during a heartfelt good-bye hug? It's the last thing on my mind personally when hugging my friends. Otherwise, despite the sexual themes, the plot wins over and the portrayal of negative sexual themes was just enough to make you squeamish at the right moment or make you disgusted by a character's behavior (intentionally). In that, the author does very well!

All in all, a wonderful book. I look forward to another story of the Other Ones in the future!

Thank you, Mr. Schwarz.

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Riveting and evocative

This was a fantastic listen and had me wanting more every step of the way. One thing I enjoyed was that nothing felt “too convenient”. It all flowed together very well and I started coming up with my own theories and emotional attachments that were constantly evolving throughout the story. I didn’t feel there were any twists just for the sake of a twist. It all felt natural and completely justified, unlike some other books I’ve read. I look forward to more from this author!

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1 person found this helpful

Great book! Couldn't stop listening

It's a bizarre story which kept me interested the whole time. The narrator was great. Highly recommend!

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If you like scary and creepy this is it

It’s Stephen Kingish style with surprise twist ending. I am not a fan of such a thriller but if you are you sure will get chills on this one

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