Book Review: WE SOLD OUR SOULS by Grady Hendrix

 

WE SOLD OUR SOULS by Grady Hendrix (Quirk Books, September 2018)  Hardcover, 336 pages.  ISBN #1683690125 / 9781683690122  Locus 2019 Award Nominee for Horror Novel, Shirley Jackson 2018 Award Nominee for Novel, Goodreads 2018 Choice Award Nominee for Horror

 

Summary from the Goodreads website . . . . .

 

A new novel of supernatural horror (and pop culture) from the author of Horrorstor, My Best Friend's Exorcism, and Paperbacks from Hell.

 

In the 1990s, heavy metal band Dürt Würk was poised for breakout success -- but then lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom as Koffin, leaving his fellow bandmates to rot in rural Pennsylvania.

 

Two decades later, former guitarist Kris Pulaski works as the night manager of a Best Western - she's tired, broke, and unhappy. Everything changes when she discovers a shocking secret from her heavy metal past: Turns out that Terry's meteoric rise to success may have come at the price of Kris's very soul.

 

This revelation prompts Kris to hit the road, reunite with the rest of her bandmates, and confront the man who ruined her life. It's a journey that will take her from the Pennsylvania rust belt to a Satanic rehab center and finally to a Las Vegas music festival that's darker than any Mordor Tolkien could imagine. A furious power ballad about never giving up, even in the face of overwhelming odds, We Sold Our Souls is an epic journey into the heart of a conspiracy-crazed, paranoid country that seems to have lost its very soul...where only a girl with a guitar can save us all. 

 

My review from the Goodreads website . . . . .

 

     Grady Hendrix is an inventive writer, and proves it again with We Sold Our Souls. He takes an oft-used horror trope (musicians selling their souls to the devil in exchange for fame) and spins it for a fresh take. You don't need to be familiar with heavy metal music to appreciate this story, although if you do you will be rewarded with some of the inside references and chapter titles. 

 

     What kept me reading this epic journey of rock redemption was not so much the music references (Hendrix seems to know his way around a guitar, like his namesake) but the two strong female characters that are distinctive and unique. That's what pulled me through the pages, and this novel is a big step forward from what Hendrix did with Horrostor (liked it, but not as much as this). 

 

     Kris Pulaski, the main character, is someone any aspiring musician who ever toyed with recognition and mass popularity (if even for a brief moment) will surely empathize with and understand exactly how the way things played out in her brief career are tearing her up inside. Her former band, Durt Wurk, broke up over a contract dispute 35 years ago. Only one member, vocalist Terry Hunt, went on to enormous fame with his nu-metal band Koffin. Things become difficult for Kris when Koffin announces a series of farewell concerts of sinister purpose of which only she seems aware.

 

     Melanie, the waitress living in a nowhere town with a slacker boyfriend, is an equally compelling character as she seeks to change her fortunes by simply attending a concert by her favorite band and moving to that town to start again. 

 

     I don't want to spoil the fun for anyone by revealing too much here, just a few things to mention that make this different from the standard musician contract with a devil. The soul-suckers in We Sold Our Souls may have different origins (recalling to mind some of Lovecraft's creations). Whose soul or souls were sold? It's not necessarily the one person who has the most to gain.

 

     There are gaps in Kris' memory that she wants to fill in, and the novel is her journey of recovery past the obstacles in her path. Conspiracy theories abound. 

 

     There is a lengthy section in the novel where Kris discovers the true nature of Terry Hunt's benefactors that contain some very descriptive and horrific passages. The details of her escape from a rehab center are extremely claustrophobic and suspenseful, also chock-full of grim details. 

The ending was not what I was anticipating, although it's very satisfying and a nice break from the typical epic endings these tales seem to contain. Recommended.