Genre: Horror
Publisher: Self Published
Publication Date: 4th June 2016
Pages: 42
REVIEWED BY NEV
A copy of DeadBeard
was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author, Matthew Cash, in exchange
for an honest review. This is said review. This book is self-published.
Another short from Matthew Cash that intrigued me to say
the least. Why did the cover have an Indian Headdress with a beard on it? Is it
really about beards? After enjoying Ankle
Biters so much, review link at the bottom of the page by the way, I was
looking forward to reading more of Mr Cash. He has a, how should I put it,
unique style about his writing that I think could be very Marmite-ish until you
get used to it. There is something there that I like. I’m just not sure what it
is yet.
Maybe this one will help me get to the bottom of it.
Great Bald Eagle is not a Native American warrior. In fact,
he lives in the UK. He got his name from his drugged up, hippie parents who
knew no better. He also has a distinct appearance, being completely devoid of
hair, anywhere on his body.
This angers him greatly and as he grows older, he starts
to unleash his hatred of all things hairy and give in to his horrific fantasies
about what he would like to do to people with beards.
Detective McMillan must do his best to stop DeadBeard,
before he loses his own!
I know what you’re thinking right now; is this for real? Bear
with me and you shall find out.
DeadBeard is a very troubled soul and an interesting lead
character. You see some of the story through his eyes where he details his
traumatic childhood and how he developed his hatred of hairy people. He really
is a psychopath.
Detective McMillan sports his own huge ginger beard and is on
the cusp of celebrating his Yearbeard. His wife, however, wants him to get rid
of it due to the dangers that DeadBeard poses. He seems like a really decent
fella. Dedicated to his job and always out to bring the bad guys to justice.
There are a few other characters involved that are
equally hairy and lend their own unique sub stories to the plot.
That plot is simple. DeadBeard is a killer. McMillan is a
cop. McMillan must stop DeadBeard. What isn’t simple about the plot and to be
honest is truly unique, is the way in which DeadBeard goes about the killing.
This is something that I have certainly not heard or seen before in any horror
or serial killer book or film. This is a huge doff of the cap to Mr Cash for
this one. The only worrying thing is how the hell he thought it up. Dark goings
on in his mind me thinks.
This is a mixture of a thriller come horror story. It
could be put into the slasher collective. It could be put into the serial
killer collective. It could also be put into the extremely tongue in cheek
horror slash killer collective and as I type this, it has finally hit me what
it is I like about Matthew Cash’s writing.
That tongue seems to be firmly planted in his cheek
throughout the stories. There is a certain element of dark humour which is
always present but never totally bubbles to the surface. It is just enough to
make you smirk while you are being sickened or scared by what you are reading.
It never makes you outright belly laugh, but I reckon if the story was longer
there would be a lot more opportunity for that.
If you like your horror a bit pulpy and a bit gory and
certainly something that will make you cringe but smile at the same time, Mr
Cash could be the writer for you.
To summarise: a serial killer / horror / humorously dark
story that certainly offers a lot more than you may think from reading the
synopsis.
General rating:
★★★★ getting there but still a bit bizarre.
Horror rating:
★★★★ yeah, it's creepy.
If you would like to help support Confessions of a
Reviewer, then please consider using the links below to buy Deadbeard or any other books from Matthew.
This not only supports me but also lets me know how many people actually like
to buy books after reading my reviews.
Thanks.
Book Synopsis:
Great Bald Eagle may sound like a really cool name for a
native American Indian and if he had have stayed, or even grew up in the
settlements of his forefathers then things might have different. But time moved
on, his forefathers spread about a bit and eventually Great Bald Eagle was
born. GBE, Jeebee, to his friends, was raised by native Americans that were so
far from their ancestry they barely knew anything about it apart from the fact
that they used to call their kids noble heroic names such as Geronimo and
Dances With Wolves. Jeebee came out bald, alopecia, so they thought they would
give him a majestic name to help him rise heroically throughout his life. They
were wrong.
Ever the brunt of jokes by everyone, within Jeebee grew a
hatred for hair, and the money, imagery and importance it had gained over the
millennia. People spent thousands of hours grooming, preening, washing, drying,
straightening, curling. It was fine when it was mostly the ladies doing it but
when this new wave of hipster surfaced, where man would spend even longer in
front of the mirror with lotions and potions it burst something inside of that
had lying dormant all his life. Jealousy.
With inspiration from his ancestral blood playing a heavy
part, Great Bald Eagle, Jeebee to his friends, is going to make these hairy
bastards pay.
The Wrath of the Mighty DeadBeard is about to befall
beardkind.
CONFESSIONS REVIEWS MATTHEW CASH
Matthew Cash, or Matty-Bob Cash as he is known to most, was born and raised in in Suffolk; which is the setting for his forthcoming full length novel Pinprick which is due for publication with Knightswatch Press in 2016.
He has always written stories since he first learnt to write and most, although not all, tend to slip into the many layered murky depths of the Horror genre.
His influences, from his early reading, to present day are, to name but a select few; Roald Dahl, James Herbert, Clive Barker, Stephen King, Stephen Laws, and more recently he enjoys Adam Nevill, F.R Tallis, Michael Bray, William Meikle and Iain Rob Wright (who featured Matty-Bob in his famous A-Z of Horror title M is For Matty-Bob, plus Matthew wrote his own version of events which was included as a bonus).
He is a father of two and a husband of one.
And for more about Matthew, you can find him on social media:
Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Amazon Page
Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Amazon Page
No comments:
Post a Comment