Trauma
by Graham Masterton
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Bonnie's job - cleaning up after violent homicides - is not for the faint hearted. But for Bonnie it's a business she has built from the ground up; a service that she can be proud of. By day she sells make-up under her rather too amorous boss, a strange but necessary contrast to her gruesome night job. Working two jobs isn't easy, but with a husband like Duke, an unemployed drunk, she needs the money. Blood soaked carpets and bullet holed plaster work might have become the norm, but when she show more notices a connection between a spate of senseless murders in which people inexplicably kill their loved ones, her tough exterior starts to crack. The links she sees sound crazy even to her, and can only be explained by the supernatural. Winner of the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe award 2003 show lessTags
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Bonnie finds fulfillment on the job, cleaning bloody crime scenes. At home she has a layout husband and a son who is turning into a thug. She begins to notice a subtle commonality in several especially gruesome cases, a seemingly paranormal link. The story has plenty of gory descriptions, albeit of crime scenes and how they got to be crime scenes. a compelling plot, and an excellent ending. The storyline is itself is more subtle than Masterton's usual. Good read.
Bonnie Winter cleans houses for a living. More specifically, she cleans the remains of human tragedies. When someone passes a way and leaves a mess behind them, Bonnie does the dirty work that makes the house livable again. Oh, and she also works for a cosmetic company. Considering the things they put in make-up, I suppose it's not as odd a combination as you might think at first.
Some of her recent jobs are simply dreadful. Normal people inexplicably killing their loved ones, always with strange butterflies at each scene with some vague connection with Aztec mythology found at the crime scene. She begins to suspect something strange is happening, although this takes a backseat to the subplot where the readers wonders which of her show more condescending, horndog co-workers she's going to cheat on her husband with.
I didn't really find a whole lot to like here. Sure, the use of Aztec mythology was interesting but it's been done, and much better, but so many other writers. The plot was pretty weak (ok, nonexistent) throughout most of the novel and I hated just about every character in the book. It was light and quick though, so at least it was over fast. show less
Some of her recent jobs are simply dreadful. Normal people inexplicably killing their loved ones, always with strange butterflies at each scene with some vague connection with Aztec mythology found at the crime scene. She begins to suspect something strange is happening, although this takes a backseat to the subplot where the readers wonders which of her show more condescending, horndog co-workers she's going to cheat on her husband with.
I didn't really find a whole lot to like here. Sure, the use of Aztec mythology was interesting but it's been done, and much better, but so many other writers. The plot was pretty weak (ok, nonexistent) throughout most of the novel and I hated just about every character in the book. It was light and quick though, so at least it was over fast. show less
Représentante en produits de beauté, Bonnie Winter exerce un second métier pour lequel les concurrents ne se bousculent guère. Elle dirige en effet une petite entreprise de nettoyage très spécialisée : avec trois employées, elle remet en état maisons et appartements ou ont eu lieu des morts violentes...
Sur plusieurs scènes de meurtres particulièrement sanglants, Bonnie remarque d'étranges chenilles, qu'elle montre à un entomologiste. Celui-ci lui révèle qu'il s'agit de larves de papillons que les Aztèques considéraient comme des incarnations de la cruelle déesse Itzpapalotl. Cette dernière avait la réputation de faire sombrer les gens dans la folie, les poussant à tuer les êtres qui leur étaient le plus cher. show more
Légende ou réalité ? Ces papillons deviennent bientôt une véritable obsession pour Bonnie, dont la vie familiale semble par ailleurs partir à vau-l'eau... show less
Sur plusieurs scènes de meurtres particulièrement sanglants, Bonnie remarque d'étranges chenilles, qu'elle montre à un entomologiste. Celui-ci lui révèle qu'il s'agit de larves de papillons que les Aztèques considéraient comme des incarnations de la cruelle déesse Itzpapalotl. Cette dernière avait la réputation de faire sombrer les gens dans la folie, les poussant à tuer les êtres qui leur étaient le plus cher. show more
Légende ou réalité ? Ces papillons deviennent bientôt une véritable obsession pour Bonnie, dont la vie familiale semble par ailleurs partir à vau-l'eau... show less
Jan 20, 2012French
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Author Information

227+ Works 9,473 Members
Writer Graham Masterton was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on January 16, 1946. He received training as a newspaper reporter and edited the British men's magazine Mayfair. At the age of 24, he was the executive editor of Penthouse and Penthouse Forum. During this time, he started writing sex how-to books. In 1976, he published is first horror novel show more The Manitou and has written over thirty-five more over the years. He has received numerous awards including a Special Edgar by the Mystery Writers of America for Charnel House, a Silver Medal by the West Coast Review of Books for Mirror, and the Prix Julia Verlanger for Family Portrait. He has also written four collections of short stories and is the author of the Rook series. He currently lives with his wife in Cork, Ireland. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Awards
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Trauma
- Original title
- Bonnie Winter
- Alternate titles
- Bonnie Winter
- Original publication date
- 2002-01-01
- People/Characters
- Bonnie Winter
- Epigraph
- "But she was of the world where the fairest things have the worst fate. Like a rose, she lived as long as roses live, the space of one morning."
-Francois de Malherbe - First words
- Bonnie went into the garage to collect the extra sprays she needed for this morning's job.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)After he had been standing there for a while, they fluttered out the door and along the corridor, then out through the bars to the open air, and the morning sunshine, and freedom.
- Blurbers
- Herbert, James; James, Peter
- Original language*
- Amerikanisch
- Disambiguation notice
- Originally published by Cemetery Dance as: Bonnie Winter
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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Statistics
- Members
- 119
- Popularity
- 272,291
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.56)
- Languages
- English, French, German, Polish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 1






























































