Thought it could be better.

Per usual, I received this book from NetGalley months ago. I can’t say no to an interesting NetGalley blurb, apparently… So when it finally comes to the top of my TBR list, I’m ready for some good horror. Dead Souls doesn’t disappoint. Before we go any further, here’s the blurb from Goodreads. [Removed]

I finished the book a few minutes ago and everything is a little jumbled up in my head. I liked Fiona much more than I thought I would. She was smart, but not too smart, you know? She felt like a real person. The other Dead Souls were interesting from what we got to know and see of them. I do wish we would have gotten a bit more about a few of them but then I’d probably complain about too much info being given that had nothing to do with the story. As it was, I think this was a nice, tight, exciting ride.

The first half has more of a leisurely pace while we get the foundation we need but at about 45% through, whoo-eee, the story takes off and doesn’t stop until the last sentence. There are plenty of twists and turns, too. I had a great time reading this book.

I read the first 30% of the book with my eyeballs but when I saw it was available on Audible, I spent a credit and started over with Julia Whelan reading it to me. She did a good job but I don’t think I enjoyed the audio any more or less than the ebook. Whatever your format preference, if you enjoy dry humor, gory horror scenes, sympathetic-ish characters, and edge of your seat scenes, you’ll very likely dig this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this fun book. Maybe this will encourage a few late sales to make up for my inability to publish a review as a book is released. 🙂

Interesting plot and not exactly what I expected. I've read several devil/demon gives a wish books and this one did play out similarly to the rest but the characters were interesting.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

Almost a week after finishing this book, I’m still not sure I really know what to make of it. I sort of liked it. Certainly an interesting read. A supernatural horror story telling the story of Fiona who thinks her boyfriend is cheating on her, gets drunk at a bar and winds up chatting with a stranger and winds up selling her soul to the devil. The following morning is a boatload of regrets – but oh fuck, it actually happened.

Fiona is not a particularly likable character. She has a huge chip on her shoulder thanks to a bad childhood, growing up with drug addict parents who shoved her out the door at seventeen to make her own way in the world. Which she did, she moved to New York, and made herself a successful marketing career. She’s obnoxious, blunt and kind of a massive bitch. Though she has a very direct manner of saying what she thinks regardless of what anyone else may think. Amusing, but gets a little tiring after a while.

The concept of the novel was an interesting one, after a drunken night and chatting with a guy calling himself Scratch, Fiona realises it’s not just a big con after all, he’s left a card – one favour to be called in at any time in exchange for the gift she requested in selling her soul. To make things worse, she gets a big shock when she finds out what her boyfriend was really up to. Nothing like what she thought and now she’s sold her soul and the devil can get her do any sort of “favour” when he feels like.

Though Fiona finds out she’s not the only one who sold her soul, and there’s a group of them, calling themselves “Dead Souls” others who are waiting for their favours to be called in. The discussion that obviously comes up – is there a way out of this deal? And the rest of the novel focuses on Fiona figuring out a way to double cross the devil to save herself and her boyfriend.

Fiona’s marketing skills come in handy in quite an interesting way, it’s quite fascinating as she figures it out, using a marketing degree in how to get one over on the devil. Of course, nothing is as it appears and the favours start coming in one by one and really gruesome things start happening.

It’s pretty grim stuff. But kind of addictive in the way that even though I didn’t really like hardly any of the characters in the book (with maybe the exception of Fiona’s boyfriend Justin, who was actually a pretty good guy and put up with a hell of a lot of shit from her) I still wanted to know what happened, and if Fiona was able to pull off the plan she put in motion.

But of course, when you’re dealing with the devil nothing is ever straightforward or simple. It all got rather gory and weird towards the end. I was with the plot until the very last chapter. I reread it twice before I got it, and admittedly it did kind of make me grin in a morbid way.

Don’t think I would read this again, but would definitely read another book by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books for approving my request to view the title.

Three stars.

It was a very interesting premise! I really enjoyed the first person narration from the sardonic main character, and the twists and turns that the story took on.

One of my top ten reads of 2016. J. Lincoln Fenn is one of the best damn horror authors in the business and if you haven't read her, you're missing a sublime treat. I put up a much more in-depth review of this wonderful book on This Is Horror.

A very good, very modern horror novel that takes on the "Deal with the Devil" trope in interesting ways. It's quite gruesome, but it's peppered with realistic details, large and small, that make it feel true.

Main character Fiona Dunn is flawed so deeply that many readers will find her to be a bad person practically from the get-go, which is interesting for two reasons: A) author Fenn manages the tricky feat of making readers root for someone like this, and B) she's probably not all that different from your average person, if a bit more on the damaged side due to her terrible childhood. Her relationships with her boyfriend, her coworker, the Devil, and the other "dead souls" all make sense in context, and are all very well fleshed out. They all make for some excellent scenes and dialogue, too.

The writing style seems a little bit choppy at times, though this works for Fiona's first person POV, and the ending won't work for everyone. But overall, this is a great modern horror novel.

I read a lot of horror last year as part of indulging in what I like and enjoy, and Dead Souls was a really unique part of that. The book, I think, is technically horror and certainly has supernatural elements, but it isn't actually terrifying. I really enjoyed it a lot.

For some reason, the idea of making a deal with the devil has always been a storyline I find interesting, partly because of the extreme desperation someone would have to be feeling in order to strike up such an arrangement knowing the cost is steep. And Dead Souls is a whole book about that basically in a modern era. With a twist that the deal is often done without knowledge. So...be careful what you wish for!

Fiona meets a stranger in a bar at a low point and expresses a desire for a trait only someone like the devil could give her. When she realizes she's traded her soul (a favor) for this trait, she uses it but also regrets that she could not have made a bigger deal. And she finds herself sucked into a support group of others who have traded their souls and are on the hunt for an answer.

The story is just unique and interesting as we follow Fiona's quest to undo her deed. Challenges are everywhere, though, and Fiona can't always be sure who to trust when someone could be called in for their favor at any moment. In the middle of all of this, we question if one can still retain a sense of self and soul after dealing it to the devil.

Fast paced and well written, Dead Souls was a fun read for my fall season!

I received a review copy from the publisher.

You had better have nerves of steel and a strong stomach if you are going to finish this book. Was that a challenge? Oh! I think so :)

This author is good at producing images that will continue to haunt you long after the book is finished and especially with this book. Religion, marketing and deals with the devil will not only keep you turning pages, but horrified and delighted simultaneously as you do.

From a crumbling relationship to new and dangerous alliances, this book has a little bit of everything. The characters are quirky and interesting and make you want to know them better. Rich with detail, this book doesn't leave a lot to the imagination, until then end, when you are sorry to see it go.

If you like old fashioned horror, where the events are truly terrifying, this is the book for you. I still get chills from it.

This review is based on a complementary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.