Well it’s official, Jason Nickey is now on my must read list. If he writes it, I will read it. This novella was delightfully deranged. That’s it, that’s the review. We good? No? Let’s talk about it.

Imagine you’re a little boy being raised by a single father, a man you adore and idolize. In your eyes, he is the epitome of masculinity. You love your daddy and he loves you. The only thing you don’t love is when he locks you in your room to have some private time. You don’t know what he’s up to, but you hate being away from him. Why does he need private time, you must know! (Kids, ugh lol) One day your curiosity gets the best of you and you decide to find out what you’re missing out on. Because you’re a little kid, your escape tactics come from cartoons and whatnot. You make a rope out of sheets tied together and try to use that to climb out your window. You overestimate your knot tying ability and end up falling on your ass. That was the one laugh I got out of this impossibly bleak story. Anyway, you sneak around until you find your father in his murder shack (you don’t know that’s what it is yet). You hear screaming and grunting and see your daddy doing things to a strange woman that you’ve only seen in daddy’s secret movies. The woman sees you before your daddy does and she begs you to help her, but she does not understand your reverence for your father or your own fascination with this scene. Your daddy does though. He understands too well. When he invites you to participate in the second half of his private time, your life is forever changed.

Let’s talk about the audiobook for a moment. Mark Royse’s voice and inflection are perfect for this tale. While the beginning of this story is told from the perspective of a child, it is written in simplified but not childish language and Royse does not do a kid voice. His narration progresses with Jack’s growth. It’s difficult to describe, but it fits perfectly. I really enjoyed Royse’s narration and hope to hear more from him. You hear that, extreme horror authors? Pick Royse.

This story includes lots of sensitive topics, so be sure to look up content warnings if you need them. Or send me a message. I am only not including them in my review because some are a bit spoilery. I personally don’t mind spoilers, but I also don’t want to ruin the experience for anyone else. And this book IS an experience. You have been warned.