A Scribbler Muses Upon another,
Cult Dives into another Book
Cult Dives into another Book
Nothing Men by Doug Brunnel
If you’ve ever travelled cross country you may well have encountered a township, off the beaten path, that you might miss entirely if you blinked. Ironically this also what several characters in Nothing Men would have wished to have happened, circumstances permitting.
Have you ever taken the time to wonder how such a place could still exist, often thrive, surrounded by much wealthier built up areas? This book may help to answer some of those nagging questions by way of introducing an incorporated and exacted small island mythos (with rules made somewhat malleable for today’s standards). Why are Momma’s burgers so good? And why is she so secretive about the recipe? These questions are answered in good time too. Sure you may believe you know the answer, and you may in fact be very close, cult movies as far back as 2000 Maniacs (1964) by H.G Lewis, Wes Craven’s (RIP), The Hills have Eyes (the original,1977, although the 2006 Alexandre Aja remake wasn’t too shabby either!), and Deliverance (1972) offer several (humorous at times, more than merely disturbing in others) insights into those individual’s attitudes, quirky mannerisms and peculiarities of those who prefer to reside in such ‘hamlets’ (English term for wont of not using townships too many times!) far removed from civilization.
I’m pleased to announce that Nothing Men goes one step further.
Doug Brunell has laid to page what many of us fear, what if scenarios that most of us horror loving aficionados know all too well with resulting predicaments that one would only hope would never/could never happen. So just who can you trust, who can you turn to and where can you turn when you’re a stranger in a strange unforgiving land. A landscape that’s unforgiving, self-sufficient, self-governed (lawlessness in essence) and heaven forbid the inevitable (be it caused from karma, a directed snipping blade, from natural causes or otherwise) has transpired.
Grabbing the reader’s senses with comparative ease Mr. Brunell whisks them away to a vivid perceived locale we all know, deep down, exists though choose to ignore the existence of. In a more than clever storyline he has managed to weave a rollicking tale using local myths, small town shenanigans including a sex based reward system, investigative individuals (one of which always in search of new ideas to insert into ominous, oft macabre, fables) stumbling upon more than they ever bargained for, several interesting protagonist types and numerous others ‘ripe for the shed’.
But before even all of the grisliness, chunkiest and juiciest parts flow afore the reader’s eyes Amanda, a teenager stuck in the middle of nowhere without mod. cons (shock horror!), utters a stunning sentence to sum up the tale brilliantly “…this was her definition of misery...” a conclusion reached before her role has yet to come to the forefront of the narrative. And it only gets worse.
Doug Brunell has laid to page what many of us fear, what if scenarios that most of us horror loving aficionados know all too well with resulting predicaments that one would only hope would never/could never happen. So just who can you trust, who can you turn to and where can you turn when you’re a stranger in a strange unforgiving land. A landscape that’s unforgiving, self-sufficient, self-governed (lawlessness in essence) and heaven forbid the inevitable (be it caused from karma, a directed snipping blade, from natural causes or otherwise) has transpired.
Grabbing the reader’s senses with comparative ease Mr. Brunell whisks them away to a vivid perceived locale we all know, deep down, exists though choose to ignore the existence of. In a more than clever storyline he has managed to weave a rollicking tale using local myths, small town shenanigans including a sex based reward system, investigative individuals (one of which always in search of new ideas to insert into ominous, oft macabre, fables) stumbling upon more than they ever bargained for, several interesting protagonist types and numerous others ‘ripe for the shed’.
But before even all of the grisliness, chunkiest and juiciest parts flow afore the reader’s eyes Amanda, a teenager stuck in the middle of nowhere without mod. cons (shock horror!), utters a stunning sentence to sum up the tale brilliantly “…this was her definition of misery...” a conclusion reached before her role has yet to come to the forefront of the narrative. And it only gets worse.
In Nothing Men, the main characters are fleshed out superbly making them likable and relatable. In a rapidly unfolding situation, that many of us wish to never happen to us, even though odds are very slim (I said slim not none!) it might, one can easily begin to assume what might happen next, this is more often not the case here. The sheer number of explanations, backstories and true-to-life comparisons add sufficient weight to keep this tale interesting, horrifying and not so far-fetched. One back story in particular is especially grotesque and includes a botched forced gender reassignment (reminds me of a Cattle Decapitation track with a banned video) resulting from fraternal madness caused by an offspring being born the wrong sex.
“Charles, but isn’t that a boy’s name?”
“It’s a long story.”
Nothing Men also touches upon an individual suffering from mental disabilities and the unpredictable nature associated with the same when placed in an interaction, high stress environment.
Many of the individual’s thoughts and actions are so relevant that one might easily be able to place themselves in their shoes. The fact that the Father is an author of suspense makes it even more intriguing as his daughter picks up on that she thought she had no use for, often pushing aside her Father’s career path as merely odd, not useful in any way, and later utilizes the knowledge to great use. In much the same situations she only ever believed happened in the movies or in one of her father’s ‘fanciful’ tomes.
Nothing Men has boat loads of twists and turns to keep the reader intrigued. Just when one might think salvation is at hand it gets ripped away with the same loving yank as a blade through the evenings scheduled ‘dinner’.
“Charles, but isn’t that a boy’s name?”
“It’s a long story.”
Nothing Men also touches upon an individual suffering from mental disabilities and the unpredictable nature associated with the same when placed in an interaction, high stress environment.
Many of the individual’s thoughts and actions are so relevant that one might easily be able to place themselves in their shoes. The fact that the Father is an author of suspense makes it even more intriguing as his daughter picks up on that she thought she had no use for, often pushing aside her Father’s career path as merely odd, not useful in any way, and later utilizes the knowledge to great use. In much the same situations she only ever believed happened in the movies or in one of her father’s ‘fanciful’ tomes.
Nothing Men has boat loads of twists and turns to keep the reader intrigued. Just when one might think salvation is at hand it gets ripped away with the same loving yank as a blade through the evenings scheduled ‘dinner’.
In conclusion, because I could waffle on forever about this tightly constructed collection of words, this is a book that anyone with a lust for the gleefully tragic and matter of fact horrific will more than enjoy, will devour in fact.
In a similar vein to numerous printed works from a master in the genre, Jack Ketchum, this is a volume you could easily find yourself engrossed in, tearing through in fact all in order to get to the last page and an answer to the all-consuming question predominant throughout its many pages. To quote an infamous tagline from Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre; Who will survive and what will be left of them?
In a similar vein to numerous printed works from a master in the genre, Jack Ketchum, this is a volume you could easily find yourself engrossed in, tearing through in fact all in order to get to the last page and an answer to the all-consuming question predominant throughout its many pages. To quote an infamous tagline from Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre; Who will survive and what will be left of them?
Keep all 5 Bloody Eyes on these pages!
Bravo Mr. Brunell, send me another when you have a chance I’ve annoyed my family by having my nose buried in this for the better part of the past week, but it was so engrossing I just didn’t care. This was by the way my first Kindle book and a fantastic experience to boot! I’ll go one further and make it even easier for you, our readers, to find it, because I’m nice like that and this was a great read. Click the cover below to order your Kindle ebook or physical copy!
Click to Buy It Today!
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What do you think readers? Cult convince you to pick up this excellent read? Already have it and care to share your own thoughts? Feel free to share away in the comments below.
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