We Sold Our Souls

July 9, 2018
Hendrix’s pulpy love letter to heavy metal music is a gloriously over-the-top scare fest that has hidden depths. Terry Hunt—aka the Blind King, the former frontman of the wildly successful Dürt Würk—ruined guitarist Kris Pulaski’s life 20 years ago. Now Terry’s on an apocalyptic farewell tour with his new band, Koffin. Kris, 47 and looking back at the shambles of her life, seeks the truth about the night Terry drew up contracts, striking a bargain with the devil that sold out Dürt Würk and doomed Kris to misery and obscurity while gaining fame and fortune for himself. She has to ward off murderous UPS men, hellish creatures, and much more on her way to the culmination of Koffin’s tour: Hellstock ’19 in the Nevada desert, where Terry will bring thousands of souls together for the devil to harvest. Undaunted, Kris unleashes her inner badass and her wicked guitar riffs to stop Terry and his evil cabal. Hendrix (Horrorstör) scatters plenty of barbed popular and consumer culture references throughout this harrowing tale of redemption in the face of powerful evil. Readers will root for Kris all the way to the explosive, poignant finale. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, JABerwocky Literary.

August 1, 2018

Kris Pulaski works a dead-end job as a hotel manager, dreaming of her life two decades ago as the lead guitarist of the on-the-verge-of-success heavy metal band Dürt Würk. Their lead singer, Terry Hunt, having headed off to a fabulous solo career, left behind Kris and the rest of the band. Now it's time to face the music, and Kris is determined that Terry own up to the truth--he sold his bandmates' souls for success. As Kris begins a cross-country trip to find the rest of the group--and hopes their hatred for her may have waned with time--she discovers that the odds to reclaim what was hers may be against her, but both the journey and the destination are worth it. Drawing on the dark side of American society, laden with conspiracy theories, Satanists, pop culture, and the crushed dreams of middle age, this book takes the power of music and turns it into delightful horror. VERDICT Hendrix's (My Best Friend's Exorcism) remarkable, immersive prose will have readers recognizing pieces of themselves in the characters' flawed thoughts and actions, which is by turns disturbing and captivating.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2018

When Isabelle's daughter wakes her up because she cannot find the bathroom outside their caravan, Isabelle thinks someone has played a horrible trick on them and the other three families camping nearby. But the campground has suddenly vanished, and family is parked on green grass that stretches as far as they can see. The sky is bright blue, but there's no sun. In fact, there is nothing at all to show them where they are: no trees, no buildings, no animals, no civilization. Most electric devices do not work, and the radios only play 1960s pop singer Peter Himmelstrand. As the story unfolds, the four families work together to discover where they are and if a way out is possible. Dark fears and desires and past events the characters have tried to bury are coming to light under the bright sunless sky, and there may be no way to survive it. VERDICT Swedish sensation Lundqvist's (Let the Right One In) twisting journey into the dark corners of the mind is true psychological horror. It will keep entranced and shocked readers guessing until the very end.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2018
Hendrix (My Best Friend's Exorcism, 2016) brings his quirky sense of humor to an energetic Faustian tale. Twenty years ago, Kris was the lead guitarist of D�rt W�rk, a heavy-metal band on the rise. But after a night no one can fully remember, the band split, leaving music behind?except for Terry, who went on to megastardom. Now Kris is barely holding it together as a motel night manager, until a horrific murder makes her question the nefarious power behind Terry's success, and what it cost Kris' soul. Determined to take her life back, Kris hits the road and reconnects with her old bandmates, putting her on a collision course with Terry for a Las Vegas music festival of demonic proportions. No matter how high the mountain of horror she faces, as long as Kris has her guitar, she might be just enough to save us all. This is a fast-paced ride, firmly rooted in the pulp horror tradition, but with thought-provoking social criticism and a sense of fear that rises from the terrifying implication that we are all willing to sell our souls on the cheap. Hendrix's darkest novel yet will leave readers begging for an encore.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)