John Everson

Ah, this is going to be a tough one. I wanted to like this book. I really did. Why? Well, a few reasons. First, the book was recommended to me by the same person that offered up the praise that blurbs the front cover of the novel. Second, I shared several pleasant hours with the author and the person the Colum character from the Acknowledgements and Prologue, eating wings and sharing stories.

Make no mistake, the author, John Everson, is, as far as several hours of camaraderie and wings will show more get me, a pretty cool guy.

So, I really wanted to like this book. Hell, I wanted to love it.

I didn't.

There's some great stuff packed within its pages. The entire NightWhere concept is a good one, and it actually became more intriguing as the novel went on. If you enjoy Clive Barker at his most strangely sexual, you'd likely enjoy elements of NightWhere.

Unfortunately, for me, the fascination ends there. It's funny how I feel I need to make the next statement, but I guess I do. I'm not a prude, and the BDSM elements, the sex and the violence are not things that bother me overmuch. I've always been of the opinion that the plot demands the extremity of the sex and violence, so, come on, when I picked up a book about an extreme BDSM sex club, I knew what I was in for in that regard.

No, it came down to the characters. Let me give you some examples:

Sin-D, the "bartendress" at NightWhere. Yes, she's positioned almost immediately as a slut, but her absolutely ridiculous frat-boy fantasy dialogue was off-putting as hell. An example:

"How about just a Jack and Coke for now?"
"You want Jack's Cock? Has this place turned you that fast?" She exaggerated a roll of her eyes. "How disappointing."
"Liquor?" he pleaded.
"Ah, so easily swayed. Now he wants to lick her."

Trust me, her dialogue never rises above this. Ever.

Amelia, when we first meet her, seems to want what NightWhere can provide, but she displays fear of returning. She doesn't know how much longer she can survive it. So then why is she so pissed later on when someone else takes her place?

Gordon and Kendrick are both incredibly stupid men. Kendrick trades frat-boy innuendos with Sin-D. Gordon...well... okay, I guess it's time for this:

Gordon doesn't like the mother of his kids much, so he kills her. There's not a lot of build up, no real motivation. It's basically a case of the author needing a male to want to stay at NightWhere. That's it.

Selena is an absolutely ridiculous character. She's the calm beacon of normalcy in the sea of NightWhere. She is kind to Mark and treats him well. We'll come back to her a little later...

Mark and Rae are the main protagonists of this tale. Rae's got a little S&M streak and likes to get her freak on once in a while. Mark is not like that. He's portrayed as the guy who's happy to have missionary sex with his wife for the rest of their lives. But he's so understanding of her that he lets her go get her freak on. He's nice like that.

Rae, as portrayed in this novel, is a completely unlikeable character. She has desires to feel real pain. It gets her off. Okay, fair enough. She knows her husband Mark isn't that way, but she drags his ass along anyway. Turns out Mark also gets off watching other guys hump his wife. So that "missionary position for life" thing is already showing its cracks.

When she gets a little too into NightWhere, Mark isn't happy. When she ends up staying there and disappearing for a month, Selena shows up. Mark whines and bitches about just wanting to get his wife back, all the while lusting after Selena. Really? Your wife is missing, but you just can't stop the libido?

Then shit gets real. Mark wants her back. Even after watching a video where she screws a guy and kills him. He makes excuses (even though she's left him to go get whipped and left him for the place). Uh. Okay.

Even better? He goes through the world's most hellish obstacle course just to prove his love of his skanky-ass wife who obviously doesn't give a shit about him. At the end of this, he has to hack up a woman in several disgusting ways. Then he has to have sex with her. Which, by the way, he seems to have no problem doing. Really? And then, he barely escapes with his life. And it still doesn't stop him from going home with Selena, the hot chick, and screwing her. Then immediately telling her he loves his crazy wife and wants to get her back.



So what it comes down to is, apparently, in the world of this novel, no matter how much blood is flowing, no matter how many depraved acts you do, or are forced to do, no matter how much you adamantly want your wife back and are furiously worried about her, no matter what the obstacle is, you see a nice pair of breasts, you'll be good to go.

Oh, and apparently no one has a good day in the "real world" because each time they come home, the day sucked. Until they could, you know, have sex.

And also, it seems like every bar ignored any music that came out past the 80s. All of it. It's all Depeche Mode and The Cure. So...yeah, it really is a torture club.

Okay, I know I'm getting snarky and bitchy here. So, let me try and temper that for a moment and just say this: If Clive Barker was able to get his hands on this, I have no doubt it would have been a classic in his bibliography. If even one of the characters had a redeeming characteristic--not something likeable, just something that I might see in a real adult--the book would have been much better.

As it stands, I don't understand all the praise heaped on it, nor do I understand the Stoker nomination.

But hey, what do I know? Maybe I'm the stupid one here. show less

This is the first novel by John Everson that I've read. I will be reading more!

Evan and his wife Sarah have lost their 12 year old son in a drowning incident. The stress of the loss of their only child results in their relationship drifting apart...Sarah likes to drown herself in alcohol and Evan likes to torture himself by walking up and down the beach every night. The very same beach at which his son drowned.

During one of these nightly walks, Evan hears a beautiful song. Following it, he show more finds a beautiful naked woman who suddenly dives into the ocean from the rocky outcropping on which they stood. Thinking that she will drown, he gets himself back to the beach to see if he can find her. He can't. Until he hears the song again, a few nights later. Needless to say, it's the song of the Siren.

From there the story of the Siren is told in a couple of ways, from Evan's viewpoint in the current time period, and from the viewpoint of the captain of a rum running ship at the end of the 1800s. The history of the Siren is sensuous, sexual and horrific. There is a heck of a lot of sex which sometimes bothers me, but not in this novel, as it is part of the story. These scenes are extremely well written and suck you in (like that pun?). Too bad the siren sings for her supper, and her supper is men. In addition to the sex scenes there are a lot of very gory scenes which were also well written and necessary to the story.

Some may not like the ending, but I definitely did. I felt that it was really the only way it could end.

All in all, I thought this was a terrific novel, that moved incredibly fast and left me thinking that any man who, while walking the shore, hears a beautiful intriguing song...should RUN! show less

Be careful what you wish for. Not because you just might get it, but because you may not have the stomach to fork over the price of that wish being granted.
Austin is miserable in his marriage. Half the time his wife is giving him the silent treatment and the rest of the time he probably wishes she would instead of picking at everything he does. Who could blame him for spending more time at the bar since he dreads gong home?
When he meets Regina, a seductive stranger on one such night and show more tells her he wishes his wife would die, he doesn't really expect it to happen. When it does, his wildest nightmares could not have conjured the price he is expected to pay for this favor. Regina has friends in low places and Austin will have a hell of a time when they come to collect.
I received an advance copy for review. show less

With most of Everson's books, once I pick them up, I can't put them down. This was no exception. I think I read it in 2 days. When I did put it down, it was grudgingly even though I HAD to. This novel is a deeper journey into the erotic side of horror than usual. It's a fast paced, wild ride from start to finish. And the ending...well, let's say as the book opens, you never even thought that was the direction this book was going to take.

First we meet a couple, Rae & Mark, who are into the show more swinger scene. Well, Rae is, & Mark is kind of along for the ride. His love for her pulls him into a deeper world where pain goes hand-in-hand with pleasure, as her lust for blood and violence grows. As Rae finds exactly what she was always looking for in NightWhere, Mark realizes too late exactly what is happening to his beloved wife, and tries to save her. Meanwhile, there are a few other characters from NightWhere that we are introduced to along the way. As I don't want to give too much away, readers will have to find out for themselves what is to become of our characters, and exactly what NightWhere is!

Most definitely not for the weak of stomach, though. Can't wait to read the next one by Mr. Everson! show less