Crack
By: D E McCluskey
Narrated by: Tim Welch
Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 06-24-20
Language: English
Publisher: David McCluskey
Book Blurb
Addiction is an affliction.
As you crave you endure sweats, irritations, sleepless nights. Your life suffers, your job suffers…. Your family suffers.
But you need it. You have to have your fix.
Joe O’Hara is having a bad morning, and it’s just about to get worse.
A random road traffic accident sends him on the path to addiction. Crack is the only thing that can give him any relief from his living hell – but it’s a far cry from the crack you might think it is.
Crack is a psychological horror from D E McCluskey, author of The Twelve.
My Review
This wasn’t the book I was expecting. It’s firmly in the Horror genre but parts of it read like snuff porn. I was expecting more psychological thriller and less sexual violence over all. The book does open with a scene that portends what the rest of the story will be like; had this not been a for-review book, I would have put it down there. It’s just not my cup of tea.
The main character, Joe, snapped at some point prior to where this story starts. Life pushed him too hard and he couldn’t take it and all that internal rage cracked out into this unhealthy need to kill. Cracking skulls is the only thing that gives Joe a few days of peace these days. The story shows how his need escalates from killing animals to killing women. There’s a fair amount of description spent on Joe’s orgasms, which occur with each cracked skull. It definitely adds to the ick factor that is Joe’s life.
The story goes from one victim to the next: animals, Joe beating up his wife, the women he kills, his therapist who he fantasizes about, etc. Joe doesn’t have much of a personality throughout the story. At first, it’s a little interesting because Joe has this imaginary friend he talks to, but the interest quickly faded for me because Joe remains a one-dimensional character throughout. Though, there at the very end, the plot tries to humanize him.
The ladies are victims and romantic interests throughout. All the male characters, not just Joe, refer to the women as girls throughout the story, failing to make the distinction between actual girls and grown women. If it was just Joe doing that, I would say it’s part of his character, but the other men do it too. The ladies had small roles. Even Paula, the police detective, is sexualized and made a victim throughout. One of the victims even gets her hands undone from Joe’s restraints and then, conveniently, gives up and lets the end come. So I was pretty disappointed in the use of the female characters all around.
For me, the end was unsatisfactory. There is no real justice. 2.5/5 stars.
The Narration: Tim Welch had an odd cadence to his narration. He put extra emphasis on a few words each sentence, like he was trying to add excitement or anticipation to each and every sentence. It was part old-time radio drama and part sports announcer. I got used to it and for some scenes, like the gory murder scenes, it made sense. I did like his voice over all for Joe. Welch tried to give each character their own voice, but they often blended together if 2 or more characters were talking together. His female voices could use more femininity. There were no technical issues with the recording. 3/5 stars.
I received a free copy of this book. My opinions are 100% my own.