The audiobook was a great way to read this novel.

This was a solid debut. Interesting characters and good plot. Loved the supernatural elements that this bookbrings and will definitely be looking out for more books of this author in the future.

3.8

1/5 ✨
So I DNFed this one about 20% through.. the premise sounded really good, but the execution, not so much. It was a bit confusing at first, and then when everything started to get explained I kinda lost interest

I enjoyed the plot immensely, I mean who wouldn’t want to get rid of their Bad Parts? It took me a bit to engage with the narrator but she became one with the character for me fairly quickly once I became immersed in the story. I look forward to hearing more from this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the author and his publisher for letting me listen to an advanced copy of the audiobook Bad Parts.

The story opens with Mack, 75 year old hands bound in the back of a car and being driven away from his gates community. This isn’t your typical gated community or senior community. We learn that Mack had his kidney’s replaced while in the community. The kidneys are on loan until he dies. We also learn that they come with a tracking device they emits a painful signal to the person if they venture 10 miles beyond the community gates. We’re unsure as to why Mack has been kidnapped but it is suspected the kidneys may be the reason. This is an exciting story that I would love to hear more of. The only part I found a bit distracting was when the female narrator used a male voice.

I was hooked for the start! I listened to the whole book in two days and hope there is a book two! Thank you #netgalley for the chance to read #badparts

Right from the beginning this captures your attention and throws you into the full fledged drama of Ash's life. She lives a rocker road show lifestyle the requires her hands to play her beloved guitar. This isn't just a hobby, this is her means. When an attack leaves her unable to recover and play, she seeks alternative healing... trading parts...yes, body parts.
The suspense and drama continues throughout the story, which at times dragged a little, but worth finishing.
A unique plot with cool characters.
I listened to this as an audio-book and the performance fit well with the story.
Thank you to NetGalley, Midpoint Press, and Brandon McNulty for the complimentary copy to listen to. All opinions are my own.

3.5/5 stars
Thank you Netgalley and Midnight Point Press for the free audio copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I snagged this one from the “listen now” section even though I thought it sounded a bit... weird. I looked it up on goodreads and it had phenomenal reviews so I decided to give it a shot.

It’s been a long time since I’ve really read any supernatural books. I used to be pretty big on vampires (somehow never read or watched Twilight though). I grew up with Buffy and I read most of The Vampire Diaries books and loved the show. But besides reading those book years ago and the occasional overlap with the small amount of horror that I read, I haven’t read many supernatural books.

I have to admit, that the premise initially reminded me of WE SOLD OUR SOULS, which I didn’t love, so again I was skeptical. In the end, my lack of shelf control won out and I hit download.

I thought the narrator was fantastic! I don’t think I’ve listened to anything else she’s narrated yet, but she has a great voice and was really able to sound creepy when it was needed.

The storyline however, felt a bit convoluted at times. I did end up liking it more than WE SOLD OUR SOULS, but I don’t think it was quite for me. I felt like everything was rushed but also dragged out at the same time. There were some unexpected twists that I thought were well done, but then certain things that irked me. So I’ve gone back and forth about my rating and thoughts on the book countless times, and I still can’t make up my mind. If supernatural thrillers are your thing, definitely give it a shot!

Bad Parts starts strong and has a unique premise. I feel like it got bogged down with a cast of mean-spirited characters, plus a supernatural entity that becomes demystified too soon, but there's still a lot to like here. I recommend it to people who like horror.

The preamble is that a creek running through a small town in Pennsylvania is home to a supernatural entity that allows people to trade "bad parts" for fresh ones. That liver you ruined with years of alcohol abuse? Trade it with the monster in the creek. That thumb you lost in a meat grinder? Go see the creek monster. Lose your eyes to glaucoma? Creek monster. You get the idea.

But nothing in life is free, of course, and so there is a catch. Two, in fact. First, a person who trades a body part with the creek monster can never leave the one-horse Pennsylvania town -- doing so will cause the traded body part to burn until it finally bursts from the person's body and returns to the creek from whence it came. Second, and very crucial here, the creek monster only has one of each part. So if your kidneys go kaput, you'd better hope no one has already checked these parts out from the body-part library.

This second catch is what brings out the worst in people seeking to trade, and the best example is in the book's cold open, where an unnamed individual throws the current owner of the creek's kidneys into a car and drives him several miles out of town. Sure enough, this ghastly scene ends with the poor bastard's kidneys flying out of his body as if attached to a snapped rubber band.

If the above seems compelling to you, then you and I probably like a lot of the same things. :) Unfortunately, the characters that carry this story along are mostly a bunch of A-holes.

The residents of Hollow Hills, Pennsylvania who have traded with the creek monster know the inner workings of it to such a technical degree that you'd swear they read about the monster in an encyclopedia. As a result, the monster is completely demystified in the span of 100 pages, and the characters become as mundane as organ thieves from the most cynical example of the organlegging trope. Actually, you could argue they're even worse -- they inflict immense pain on their fellow residents in the name of plain-spoken selfishness, but don't have to suffer the responsibility of removing the desired body part themselves. Too many of the characters will even declare, screaming, that THEY DESERVE THIS BODY PART as a justification for causing it to be ripped away from someone else.

The story was still compelling at times, but so many of the people, including the main character, were unapologetically awful. Many of them have backstories involving past heartache, but only as a vehicle for their sense of entitlement. You would not believe how many people in this small town have life-changing injuries, almost never as a result of disease and almost ALWAYS as a result of violent assault. (I may have missed it, but how did no one in the book call attention to how injury-prone the Hudson family is?)

I think this could have worked really well as a short story or novella, but as a 400+ page book, the characters' cruelty is exhausting. Perhaps it would have helped if the story was told from the perspective of the victim of one of these traders looking for a body part; as it was, I feel like I was being asked to root for the True Knot from Stephen King's Doctor Sleep (i.e. the bad guys). By the end, I did root for the Hudsons, but only in the hopes that they'd be able to clean up the mess they made.

It's worth pointing out that I've been FAR more forgiving of self-published novels in the past, and I feel a little crummy about writing a critical review for a fellow indie author. I think it has something to do with Bad Parts falling into some sort of limbo between amateur and uber-professional. Truly, Bad Parts is a cut above the rest. It is because so many things here are on point and well developed that its perceived flaws were amplified for me. Despite my gripes, I will 100% dive right into whatever McNulty releases -- he's a hell of a writer.

The rest of this (already overlong) review pertains to the audio book's narration only.

Ellie Gossich mostly does a bang-up job narrating Bad Parts. She's okay at narrating men (it sounds sometimes like Snow White mocking Grumpy), great at narrating women (she shows a lot of range here; the women are so distinct that you might think you're listening to a radio drama), and phenomenal at narrating the book's one child.

Unfortunately, the quality of the recording is all over the place. One chapter, she's crisp and clear, and in the next she sounds like she and the microphone are on separate ends of a cavernous hallway. Some chapters sound like she's behind a wall. Sometimes it sounds like a phone's answering machine.

This is especially noticeable in spots where single lines had to be re-recorded. Two people are having a conversation in a confined space: One person says something, and the other replies from what sounds like a football field away. Then the first person says something again, and the other person replies from a metal bucket.

Further, and this is a little nitpicky, if a line of dialogue ends with a period, she almost always narrates the following sentence as if it's a speech tag. At best, it sounds a little goofy to narrate "'We're home.' He parked," as if someone parked a "we're home." At worst, it's really goofy to narrate he-parked-the-car-and-went-inside-and-turned-off-the-lights as if it's all just one big old speech-related verb.

The real bummer, though, is that some words were misspoken, and no one seems to have caught it. So you end up with a character touching "metal concrete" (whatever that is) instead of a "metal container."

None of these issues are deal breakers, but they were a near-constant reminder that I was listening to a self-published book. (And it might be a deal breaker for someone who pays for the audio book) It can make an author look like they didn't proofread their work. Even though this was a free audio book, I ended up buying the Kindle edition because I had to see for myself; I couldn't believe so many typos had slipped through the cracks. And you know what? I couldn't find a single typo -- the manuscript was perfect. People who listen to the audio book would never know that, and that's a bummer.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for this free audio book in exchange for an honest review.

This one did not work for me but I can see it becoming popular, specially among younger people.

It felt a lot like an action script or a graphic novel. It is fast paced and full of twists but the story itself didn't engage me. I am not even sure if I understood exactly all that was happening...

The narrator of the audiobook does a great job.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This is a brilliantly creative book.

I love supernatural thrillers so when I saw this on Netgalley, it caught my eye.

This story is nothing like anything I've read before, it's creative and very well planned out.

It's gripping and creepy and i never could have guessed the ending. The book kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

I really enjoyed the creative idea in this novel, an entity that dwells in a creek making trades with people for their broken, damaged or diseased body parts. As with most deals of this nature though, it doesn't come without cost. The cost to those that trade is that they are stuck in Hollow Hills. If they try to leave, the traded part vanishes, quite painfully it seems.
The residents do their own policing of the creek, keeping cameras on the area so no one sneaks in a deal behind their backs. Snare won't make her presence known if the cameras are on or anyone else is watching.
The trades are kept secret apart from one member. (Can't have people killing each other over body parts of course).
What I was disappointed in is that we didn't get much backstory on Snare. Snare is very interesting and I would have loved to learn more. None of the characters really had much of a backstory. Things were mentioned here and there, but a complete picture was never really painted for any of them. Considering the length of the book, I would have expected more about the characters.
As far as the narration goes, it was not my favorite. It seemed to be read very slowly, and the voices for the characters were sometimes extremely distracting.
Overall, it's a well thought out concept and unique idea that I don't regret reading at all.

This was a supernatural fast-paced thriller that I couldn't put down. Very entertaining and engaging, aditctive is the word! It is very easy and fast to read. The first in a series that I will sure continue reading. With an original plot and full of interesting characters, Ash, the main character is simply great. She plays guitar for a heavy metal band when she is attacked and gets her hand crushed. She then reunites with her family and recruites people to trade their body parts to Snare, the demon that lives in the creek of her hometown. In exchange of working parts, she qill have her hand restored. Then, nothing goes as expected and she and the others get involved in an engaging story with an unexpected end.
Totally recommended. 3.5*s

DNF. I listened for an hour and was not enjoying the audiobook. Maybe I’ll give it a try again down the road.

Ok. So I really wanted to rate 3.5 stars. I liked the premise of this book - I think that it was interesting, it grabbed your attention and it held your attention. It was a lot longer than I think it needed to be, but overall, very well written and put together. My biggest issue was the narrator. I was not a fan. Some of the characters she portrayed I just wanted to turn it off. I got used to the different voices after the first half of the audiobook. I haven’t read anything supernatural in a while, so it was a nice change from the reality of every other thriller and murder mystery I’ve read recently. This one was graphic, to say the least, not that I personally minded, but there were definitely parts that made me cringe, so you know they were bad. Every time I thought it was about to end, there was something else that happened. McNulty did an excellent job of endearing you to some of the characters, Ash, Carl, Cheeto, Jake. But there were some that you questioned their loyalty even though they were doing the right thing at the time. Bad Parts did not end how I thought it would, at all. Going in I didn’t realize that it was the first in a series, but I am excited to see what the rest of the series brings. I enjoyed Bad Parts and if you like horror/thrillers, you should definitely pick this one up!

Did not finish this, I am sorry to say. Fairly new to audiobooks, I have only ever listened to the Agatha Christie books, and Christopher Lee reading Poe's 'The Raven' (can't go wrong there), so perhaps I'm just not meant to absorb my books this way, but I didnt feel the narrator brought the story to life and frankl found it all a bit harsh and discordant, and I usually love supernatural thrillers. I see the book got good reviews, so really, maybe it's just me.
Thanks to Net Galley, the publisher and author for the audio.

I was so excited for this book. I loved the premise, a demon in a stream that would replace damaged body parts. A young guitarist in a metal band needs to replace a damaged part. The book even starts at a battle of the bands show with crowd surfing, moshing in the pit and Getting crushed against the stage. Perfection.
Sometimes a book is written in a way that you absolutely lose yourself in the story. Your world disappears and you seem to be following the characters like you are a spirit floating over their shoulder. You care for and even love those characters.
Bad Parts is the complete opposite of those books. Every word seemed forced or chosen to try to make maximum impact like this was a freshman creative writing class. I strongly disliked every single character in this book. They all made stupid choices that did not make any sense or seemed to go against the personality they previously displayed.

3.75 / 5

It is more well thought than I expected. The story touches on many topics and it is quite thought provoking. At first I grabbed this book just to have a quick horror read that won't get me invest too much time and emotions but I was pleasantly surprised throughout the journey.

It is never the evil creatures that scares us, what truly horrifying is always the dark side of humanity

3.5/5 stars.
Bad Parts has an interesting premise. What if you could trade a "bad" part of your body for a good one? Make a deal with a creek demon, exchange a faulty leg, heart, etc, and then you're bound to one town. Of course, making a deal with anything described as a demon will inevitably go wrong.

The story is good, eventually. The first fourth dragged too much, though. The very first few chapters made me think I was getting into a generic, run of the mill, low-end horror thriller. But it evolved into a fresh, interesting, and developed plot. What I didn't like about the first few chapters is that Ash sounded like a teenager in a bad YA novel, immature and flat. Around the thirty percent mark, though, the action picked up, the story deepened, and I kept listening until the book was over.

That brings me to characters. The characters in Bad Parts are there to serve the story, and they do this well. They don't have a lot of development or facets to their personalities, but they believably help with the plot.

The narration of Bad Parts audiobook was odd. The narrator did a decent job of changing voices, but sometimes what sounded like purposeful accents were downright odd. I did as another reviewer suggested and sped up, which helped greatly.

I probably wouldn't read this book again, but I'd read a future book from the same author.

I'm not really sure what this was, but I liked it. I liked it enough to stay up listening until 12:30 AM and then pick it up first thing in the morning to finish it.
I received an audio copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, and I feel pretty fortunate, because it was a very good listen.
So, first, the narrator. I listened to the book at 2.5 speed. At the normal rate of speed, it was painfully slow, and the narrator's voice wasn't exactly for me, but sped it up it was perfect. She also was very good at doing different voices, which I appreciated.
The writing was tight. This was a first novel, but you would never think. The characters had depth, and the protagonist experienced a satisfying redemption arc. The setting was well-drawn. The supernatural aspect was written in such a way that it was not difficult to suspend your disbelief. Characters acted in uncomfortably believable ways.
I'm not sure if this was a horror, a thriller, a paranormal mystery or a straight-up tragedy. It was a thoughtful (but also sort of gruesome and thoroughly entertaining) reflection on human weakness, selfishness, greed and, ultimately, self-sacrifice. So yeah, it was pretty grim. It was even more of a downer because of how realistic it was. Not the river demon part, but how people think and behave, and how harmful self-serving behavior can be.
I want more. It ending on a bit of a cliffhanger, and there were questions left unanswered that I really want answers to!

the recording of the book is of a very low quality, sounding like it was recorded in a tunnel. it sounds very tinny and not very clear needing you to have the volume up quite high.
the story as a result sounds very disjointed and not very clear.
i hope before the audio book is released that the imperfections are addressed, as a regular user of audio books this has left me not wanting to recommend the book to anyone.