The Damned
The Damned
Written by: William Ollie
Published by: Bloodletting Press/Morning Star Press (03/2009)
Page Count: 282
Where to buy:
Bad Moon Books
Horror Mall (Collectors Editions)Publishers Comments:
It came on a Friday afternoon, wiping everything good from the land. It came, followed by Hell on earth, bands of brutes and nightmarish creatures, the hopeless and… The Damned.Scott thought it had to be a joke when a raving lunatic heralding the end of the world broke onto the airwaves. Then a road rage incident of bullets and blood left him in a place devoid of light, where rasping screams and whispered moans bubbled up from the darkness. Now Scott has woken next to a bloated corpse in a deserted rehabilitation center. Outside, the world is dust and ash. People are screaming, people are dying.
And Scott Freeman’s nightmare has just begun.
From Bloodletting Press/Morning Star Press
Hello Ghouls and Boils,
This evening I have an interesting tale for your consideration. William Ollie is one of the many authors I have “met” due to the miracle of the interwebs! William sent She Never Slept a copy of his new book The Damned. I asked our newest minion (I mean reviewer) Lee if he would like to give it a read. I haven’t read it yet myself, but must admit that now I am a bit curious. Without further delay, Lee Clark Zumpe’s views on The Damned. Enjoy my fiends!
Abstrusely,
Sarah L. Gerhardt
The first few paragraphs of William Ollie’s The Damned are a bit uneven and a tad grueling, with a profusion of obscenities that might repel some readers. Two pages in, however, it becomes clear that the opening expletives effectively serve to establish Scott Freeman’s frame of mind as he confronts the day of reckoning. The Damned kicks off with a glimpse of the Biblical Judgment Day, which happens to fall on what has already been a particularly rotten day for Scott.
By the end of the first chapter, the novel has firmly planted its hooks and the author is tugging the reader onward to find out what life will be like in this apocalyptic world.
Scott, the central figure in this debut novel from the author, is contrasted by a cast of unsavory characters as the story progresses. From Warren the Rat Boy, a devious former sideshow performer, to Dub, leader of a gang of reprobates, the players in this book live up to the title: All come with some pretty horrific skeletons in the closet. The reader is left to categorize them from least detestable to most malevolent.
The Damned reads as a kind of splatterpunk version of the Left Behind motif, with heavy emphasis on survival. Ollie doesn’t skimp on his depictions of violence and perversity, layering the atrocities and irreverence so deep in some spots that the tale’s momentum grows sluggish. The portrayal of brutality, misogyny, racism and other decadent behavior in the novel is essential, although the repetition is borderline gratuitous.
The author shows potential in several areas. First, he is quite clever at inserting jarring shifts in the storyline, startling the reader with unexpected – often vicious – twists. Ollie also does a good job at constructing a compelling story, particularly one with a less than admirable hero. When not trying to evoke revulsion, he demonstrates a talent for imagery:
… no sun, no moon, no blue sky or fluffy white clouds, or stars at night. Nothing but that dreary grey haze settling over them like a death shroud.
Final Thoughts:
The Damned is a better-than-average debut by an emerging author who shows promise. It’s a good story that sporadically gets mired in excessive grisliness, but offers a gripping, albeit harsh, look at survival in an anarchical world full of horrors. I give this book a 3 out of 5.
Lee Clark Zumpe – Minion (Reviewer)
