The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.
Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.
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This has been a busy week that included a road trip to Biloxi, Mississippi with my mother. As the summer season comes to an end 🙁 I am “trying” to prepare for the upcoming holidays. That means blogging ahead and doing some yard cleanup so I can begin some projects. Because it is so hot here in Florida during the summer, I try to do my bigger projects in the fall and winter. I find if I wait until spring, I end up behind, because spring is so shortlived, it quickly becomes summer…And I must have my quota of sand, sun and water play.
Today, in celebration of the Halloween season, I have a real live monster to share with you. I must warn you, it is very dangerous in the swamps of Louisiana. The monsters are both animal and human, so tread lightly.
Cover: Inkubus
MY FRIDAY 56
Croker nudged my ribs. “See, what he’ll do now is, he’ll tuck ole Johnson under the tree stump. Let him turn good and ripe before he snacks on him later.” He chuckled at the wonder of nature. “Ain’t that something?”
(56% in Kindle)
MY BOOK BEGINNINGS
I fled the city: Two fingers short and sworn off dames for life.
(LOL, like I’m going to believe that!)
MY REVIEW
Gator Bait by Adam Howe has such a fantastic cover, I knew I had to read this novella. I was sure it would be full of grisly horror and I was not disappointed. The creature feature was inspired by true events and that only added to my eagerness to read on.
Adam Howe spun a tale that had me laughing at the tone of the writing, all the while cringing, waiting for the bad to snap at me from the pages I read. The action began from the opening pages and took me to the bad place I knew I was going to visit.
The Grinnin’ Gator, a honky tonk in the swamps of Louisiana, can only contribute to Smitty’s, well, I would say bad luck, but he tends to bring it on himself. Of course, there is a dame, and she belongs to the “club” owner. He has a very interesting pet and a very bad reputation.
I don’t think there is a good person among the lot, so maybe they all get what they deserve.
Gator Bait starts with blood, torture and murder. It continues with the evil and twisted “fun” the characters of The Grinnin’ Gator do for entertainment. After all, it is in the isolated swamps of Louisiana during Prohibition, which is as bad or worse than the Wild West.
It ends…
OMG! The ending blew me away and I couldn’t help but laugh. I never could have seen ALL that coming and I love it. The best laid plans often go awry and boy, oh boy, do they.
This is my first adventure with Adam Howe and I can only tell you, it will not be my last!
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Prohibition-era 1930s… After an affair with the wrong man’s wife, seedy piano player Smitty Three Fingers flees the city and finds himself tinkling the ivories at a Louisiana honky-tonk owned by vicious bootlegger Horace Croker and his trophy wife, Grace. Folks come to The Grinnin’ Gator for the liquor and burlesque girls, but they keep coming back for Big George, the giant alligator Croker keeps in the pond out back. Croker is rumored to have fed ex-wives and enemies to his pet, so when Smitty and Grace embark on a torrid affair…what could possibly go wrong? Inspired by true events, Gator Bait mixes hardboiled crime (James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice) with creature horror (Tobe Hooper’s Eaten Alive) to create a riveting tale of suspense.
What does the cover say to you?
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Where did you stumble across this book? It sounds so me! LOL Lovin your review, Sherry!
I can’t remember for sure, but it could have been through Fire and Ice. They have a post for freebies and sales. It was a quick and grisly read. The ending blew me away and I really couldn’t stop laughing, even though it was horrible. LOL
I love books set in this era and in the bayous of Louisiana — but stories that feature torture bother me. I hope the dark humor offsets the horror.
My Friday post features The Paragraph Ranch.
I may have a twisted sense of humor, but Adam Howe’s writing had me laughing and cringing at the same time. The humor won out for me.
No gators in Minnesota — and that’s a good thing! This week I am spotlighting Banishing the Dark by Jenn Bennett. Happy reading!
Nope, but we have plenty along the Gulf Coast.
This sounds so like something I would read…I have to go get it now. 🙂
Stormi
Friday Memes
Kinda gross 56 and funny beginning… I like it! LOL
Happy weekend!
Wait…some dude lost fingers over womenfolk?
Sounds good! Hope you had a great weekend!
Check out my Friday 56 (With Book Beginnings), Halloween Giveaway, and Music Monday: Brick + Mortar.