Thank you to the publisher for my DRC!

After reading Chuck’s previous works, I knew I needed to read this one. There’s something about his writing that sucks me in, no matter what the plot is. But this plot was mesmerizing. It was so unique, and terrifying on so many levels, I couldn’t put it down. It definitely ramped up my anxiety, which I both love and hate haha. And some of the body horror—oof 🤢. This was just *chef’s kiss *

4.5 stars

Chuck Tingle knocks it out of the park once again with a brilliantly done horror that is equal parts horrifying and gratifying, all while maintaining his positive messaging at the end of the book for us to leave with. I really loved the main messaging of this book, aka “love is real and everywhere and we deserve to be around to see it,” and seeing the main character go through this arc was satisfying. I was rooting for her the whole time, and I love the way biphobia is fought against in this book.

This book was also very well paced and much faster compared to the authors other works. I found myself flying through these pages and had a hard time putting this book down. My only real complaint is the main male character, as I didn’t like him even in his endearing moments, and found myself annoyed by him even when the main character was growing a friendship with him. But, the ending was still satisfying, so don’t let this drawback stop you from reading the book.

Overall a great book and I will be waiting eagerly for Chuck Tingle’s next horror.

I fear that Chuck Tingle is just not for me. This book could not hold my attention to keep me reading. I had really high hopes, but my expectations were not met.

4.5 ⭐️

Vera is a statistician and probability professor who is one of the lucky (or unlucky?) people who survives the Low Probability Event, an extremely unlikely worldwide catastrophe that left 8 million people dead in a single day. Four years after the LPE, and deeply depressed, she is recruited by a Special Agent to help prove a statistically impossibly lucky casino is connected to that fateful day.

This book was wild. And gory. And absurd. And existential. And shocking. And sad. And chaotic.

If you love Final Destination, you’d enjoy reading Lucky Day.

Fuck greedy corporations and corrupt government organizations.

Thank you Tor Nightfire for an advance copy of this book via NetGalley!

[I can’t wait to meet Chuck Tingle next month!]

The story follows Vera, a statistics and probability professor, after a disaster occurred where a day of freak accidents killed millions of people. It became known as the Low-Probability Event, and Vera lost everything that day, learning that nothing mattered anymore. But when a Special Agent approaches her to investigate the LPE, she gets a chance to make sense of a nonsensical world and stop the LPE from happening again.

I'm not sure how to feel about this book because, for one, it's not the kind of book I usually vibe with. I'm not super into absurd or existential stories, and this is very absurd and existential. I thought it was going to be more horror-leaning. And while there is gore and weird shit happening, I wouldn't say I felt fear or dread.

One thing I know for sure is that I do like Chuck Tingle's writing. He can craft a story and interesting characters. The thing is, again, I don't really like this kind of story. There were moments I enjoyed here and there, but since nothing made sense, I wasn't super engaged. I did like the core message here, that even if existence doesn't always make sense, we're here, and we matter.

Do with that what you will.

If you like weird WTF horror sci-fi esque books - this one is for you! It was absolutely absurd, a page turner and unbelievable. This is my first read by Tingles, and if I’m in the mood for some weird I’ll pick up another one of their books. No regrets, just went in totally blind with this one and had me saying WTF, a lot!

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for my review!

Vera, a former statistics analyst, is a survivor of a strange global event called "Low Probability Event" which left her mother dead and sent her into a deep deep depression because nothing means anything any more. A few years later she's visited by a government agent who is investigating an improbably lucky casino and he says Vera is the only one who can help him. Her former curiosity is peaked enough by the tidbits Layne feeds her and she agrees to help him with his investigation.

This book was BRUTAL. The gore was descriptive. My toes were scrunching, my body was cringing and I didn't eat any time I picked this one up. But I'd say for me the worst part is there's a cat that dies. Not in a gory way but the cat still ended up dead. Chuck Tingle didn't disappoint, his signature absurdness and sharp satire look at bigger topics was spot on.

This is multi-dimension sci-fi but it's not done in a hard sci-fi way. It's more of a vehicle to talk about how everything in life can mean something and small chances still are chances. Also there's a BIG focus on grief and how grief can affect a person. Even when the person you're grieving was horrible to you. Triggers for Bi-phobia. There's moments where it comes from a loved one, a gay man and there's internalized phobia as well.

I like Chuck's writing and this was another fast paced book. I thoroughly enjoyed it! This one's gore was much grosser than "Bury You Gays" gore, imo. I'll be impatiently waiting for Tingle's next book!

This had a very fun concept (death by probability) but it didn't quite gel into something that really worked for me. I'm not sure what exactly it was lacking, maybe a faster paced plot or deeper exploration of some of the explanations at the end? But I very much appreciate the author's discussion of bisexual erasure and also the themes on government oversight (or lack thereof).

Holy. Shit. To say Lucky Day is wild is perhaps one of the biggest understatements I’ve ever made about a book. It’s ludicrous. It’s horrific. It’s laugh-out-loud funny and deeply disturbing on some lizard brain level. It hooked me from the beginning and I enjoyed every page!

As a very logical person, the concept of Low-Probability Events (LPEs), especially thousands occurring en masse, is absolutely terrifying. I read the entire second chapter of this book with my jaw on the floor and then needed to take a break just to process what the fuck just happened. Who could blame poor Vera for turning into a ramen-fueled shell of a human after witnessing that?! I would’ve faired far, far worse.

I loved Vera as a main character. She’s smart & snarky, and even when she seems to have fully succumbed to nihilism, she still cares. It was easy to root for her. There is so much love and depth to this story. I found myself terrified one moment and my eyes welling up the next. Truly a spectacular read.

A type A statistics analyst loses everything in a highly unlikely scenario. Now she must go against all odds to save the world.

Audiobook Stats:
⏰: 8 hours 24 minutes
🎤: Mara Wilson
Publisher: MacMillan Audio
Format: Singular POV
I found the narrator to be clear and concise in her narration. I never had to adjust my speed and was able to listen within my typical range.

Themes:
🎲: Grief
🎲: Finding purpose after disaster
🎲: Challenging homophobia
🎲: Questioning our existence

Representation:
🃏: Logical type A female lead
🃏: Queer characters

Tropes:
💗: Alien invasion
💗: Vegas Setting

🥵: Spice: 🚫
Potential Triggers: domestic violence **check authors page/socials for full list.

Short Synopsis:
When Vera, a former statistics and probability professor, lives through a disaster that kills 8 million people in the most bizarre and improbable ways, she descends into grief and depression. Four years later special agent Layne knocks on her door and asks her to join him in trying to disprove a casino that is "Lucky" to an impossible degree statistically. in fact, he believes the casino is responsible for the death of the millions.

General Thoughts:
Type A peeps unite, this is one for you! Vera is logical and reasonable to a fault. I, being somebody who also likes to hear statistics on certain aspects of things, really found her to be endearing and comical. But in that droll very dry way that academics who are exceedingly smart, usually are. Think Sheldon!

This book is fast paced and kicks off immediately. The portion of the book where Vera lives her pre-disaster life does not last very long at all. This created a very empty feeling for me surrounding her previous life as well as her relationship with people. I feel like this made the portion of the book where Vera grieves for everything she's lost feel a little flat for me.

I do enjoy the character growth that Vera goes through during the duration of the novel. I do feel like she does a lot of self reflection and I liked the discussions surrounding grief. The existential conversations about whether or not we really exist and if anything we do has actual purpose felt so relatable. Are you reading my journal Chuck Tingle??

I was not a fan of Layne as a character in general. He felt like a mish-mash of tropes that just didn't work overly well up against Vera. An interaction between Layne and Vera surrounding biphobia felt was very unresolved. Also, it didn't really match up to how Vera dealt with biphobia earlier in the book. I really would've liked a few more discussions between Layne and Vera surrounding what it means to be dismissed as a bisexual and the inherent biphobia that runs rampant throughout LGBTQIA community.

There were parts that were really well written that mostly revolved around the violence and gore aspect in the novel. They came across as super comical and very fun, and I wish that the Vegas aspect had played more into that type of feel. I never really felt like this was a "Vegas" setting, larger than life/glitz and glam. I really wish it would've leaned more into that.

Overall, I would say this book hits the middle of the road for me, leaning more towards not one of my faves. While it had some great aspects, and I really enjoyed our main characters type A personality as well as the premise surrounding statistics and probability, there was a lot of things that didn't work for me within the setting and the overall plot line.

Disclaimer: I read this audiobook via free ALC through NetGalley and Macmillan Audio. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I loved this novel. Very fast paced read, kept me engaged the whole time. I couldn't put it down once I started reading it. Chuck always manages to make his stories inclusive and tackle important issues in a way that feels really natural.

Chuck Tingle keeps hitting it out of the park with his traditionally published horror fiction (which is not to say he isn't doing the same with his self-published erotica)! His horror is frightening and dread-inducing, deeply felt in its emotional beats and urgent in its messaging. CAMP DAMASCUS will always be my fave, as it taught me more about myself than I thought I could learn at 40, but LUCKY DAY is an entertaining and touching contribution to the Tingleverse canon.

4.25 stars

I really don’t even know how to write a review for this book because it was just so strange. Good, but strange.
It’s interesting to think about whether or not there actually is a balance to the world and if for every good thing that happens something bad has to happen. The idea of a casino that can manipulate that and allow people to win big while still making a profit was a unique premise and I enjoyed Vera and Layne’s investigation.
I really liked Vera. At the beginning of the book she’s already pretty cynical but after everything happens she just becomes more pessimistic and jaded.
As the book got stranger and stranger I felt like she really used that to her advantage I liked seeing her figure things out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC!

For someone who has known about Chuck Tingles work for many years but hasn’t picked anything up until now. Oh boy was I missing out. Lucky day starts out with a statistic professor sharing positive news with friends and family until a low probability event happens and changes Vera’s life.
It’s so hard to share a ton of details about this book due to not wanting to spoil many of the twists and turns as it’s a wild ride. A good mix of sci-fi, FBI investigation, and horror scenes and elements.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reading copy of Lucky Day.

Imagine waking up inside a statistical anomaly with no idea who you are, where you are, or why everyone around you is dying in the most bizarre ways possible. That’s Lucky Day. Chuck Tingle grabs you by the brainstem and whispers sweet existential dread until you’re questioning whether luck is real or if you’re just the cosmic punchline.

This is horror, sure—but not the kind with jump scares and blood-soaked basements. This is the kind that sneaks into your head, pulls out a folding chair, and asks, “What even is identity?” It’s smart, surreal, and deeply unsettling in a way that made me want to lay face-down on the floor for a while.

Pacing-wise, it meanders in places—especially early on—but it builds toward something oddly hopeful, which I didn’t expect. I wouldn’t call it a comfort read unless your comfort zone includes probability spirals and philosophical breakdowns. In which case… have at it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Nightfire for this ARC! My mind is still glitching. 📊💀

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the ARC. Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC. Book to be published August 12, 2025.

Lucky Day is a unique and imaginative book. It explores big ideas like fate, choice, and identity in a very unusual way. The story is surreal but has a surprising amount of heart.

Some parts can be a bit hard to follow, which is why it's not a full 5 stars. Still, it's a powerful and creative read that sticks with you.

If you're looking for something different that makes you think, Lucky Day is a great pick.

The narration was right on point. Mara Wilson did an amazing job as always.

This was not as strong as Chuck Tingle's last two horror novels, which were my favorite horror novels of all time. Thanks for setting the bar so high! Still, this struggled mostly in comparison. I loved the fantastical elements and the groundedness in a near-reality of our own. Like all good horror, Tingle takes use one step out of the ordinary to show us how wrong our ordinary really is. This worked so perfectly in Bury Your Gays that I'm still thinking about it a year later- but Lucky Day's central premise maybe reminds me too much that we are not as progressive a society as we think we are. Our current political climate has made that abundantly clear, and Chuck Tingle always goes for the jugular.

Four stars, and still a worthy horror-y novel. Maybe your luck will be better than mine...

What I love most about Chuck Tingle is his imagination. He will come up with the most off the wall, creative ideas, AND they'll be so wonderfully written and described. I loved the first part of this - a gory, thriller-y survival / apocalyptic-feeling type introduction. I wish we had continued with this, but instead it went in a detective, sci-fi direction that I am just personally not a fan of. I'm a bit burnt out on the sci-fi trope that's in this, but I will say it is creative in its use of statistics and probability.

This is well-written, with great descriptions of horror and gore, and I'm sure people will enjoy it.

I'd recommend this for fans of Blake Crouch (Dark Matter, Recursion) and When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy (if you like the existential, meta-ness of that).

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy.

This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read in the best, most grotesque way. Set against the glitzy, too-bright backdrop of Las Vegas, Lucky Day is a literary rollercoaster of macabre absurdism, existential dread, and somehow… centipedes?

As a literature enthusiast, I was floored by how Chuck Tingle crafts an immersive, spiraling descent into chaos while grounding it in deeply human emotions. Vera, a former statistics professor haunted by loss, isn’t a typical protagonist I’d expect to relate to... but I loved her! Her grief, existential spiraling, and messy humanity made her incredibly real.

Then there’s Agent Layne: charismatic, fun-loving… until he’s not. You just know from the first meeting that he’s carrying secrets under that smile, and watching his layers peel back was such a satisfying tension builder.

📚 What Stood Out:

The final chapters are a feast of philosophical horror.

Tingle uses absurdity not as a gimmick but as a precision tool to explore randomness, grief, and the fragility of reality.

This book delivers both existential gut-punches and body horror with centipedes. Who else could do that?

Happy ending? Depends on your ability to process the existential.

This is definitely a one-sitting read. One that will linger with you long after the final page. I also want to shout out the author’s acknowledgements, which offered fascinating insight into the creation of such a smart and unhinged piece of fiction.

💬 Final Take:
Lucky Day is equal parts horror, humor, and heartbreak. Chuck Tingle proves that yes, anything is possible, and sometimes, that’s terrifying. I’ll absolutely be reading more from him.

Interesting new title from Tingle. Many great horror scenes and imagery that I really enjoyed, but the overall plot was not as intriguing as the other horror novels he's written. The characters were well written, but not as enjoyable either. Would recommend it to horror readers for the gory bits, but tonally not for all readers.