We Sold Our Souls: A Novel

Hey there book lovers! It is your old pal, Ninetoes, coming at you with a review of Grady Hendrix’s We Sold Our Souls. I have coffee in my system, my thinking cap on, so let’s do this! I love music of all types. One of my favorite genres is rock and roll, and I love some groups that are considered “heavy metal”. My enjoyment of heavy metal took of when I met one of my best friends. We would rock out some weekends. One weekend, in particular, he got new speakers for his stereo system and we turned it up halfway and heard an explosion…the glass doors on his cabinet exploded. We found glass shards embedded in his ceiling. True story. We Sold Our Souls speaks to the heart of those people who had glass doors shatter, their basements blasted, and their eardrums vibrating well after the song is over. It is a love letter to a genre of music some people consider evil. It is that evil that is addressed in this book. Kris Pulaski is leading a life that she never wanted. She is a night manager at a local hotel and she is just going through the motions. Once upon a time, she was lead guitar in a local heavy metal group, Durt Wurk. She lived for the music, the venues, the fans. This was a time of her life where her soul was truly alive, and she poured it out show after show in sweat and blood playing guitar. All of that changed when her band met at a house they found in the woods that has been abandoned and in desperate need of repair. Her partner in the group has made changes, right down to the name. Durt Wurk is dead, and in its place Koffin rises. They are guaranteed success, all they have to do is sign on the dotted line. That was a long time ago. Now, Kris sees something that sends her life on a collision course with her past, and her former bandmates. Mile by mile she is trying to get to this showdown, evil is following her, trying to stop her, and is killing everyone around her. Each mile she travels unveils lost pieces of her past, and an incident her group knows as “Contract Night”, where everything changed and not for the good. Now the secrets of the Blind King will be revealed, as well as Black Iron Mountain, and the things that feed on people’s souls. They have an insatiable appetite, and the people at the music festival are not only there for the music, they are there as food. The first power chord played is the dinner bell. All hell is going to break loose. This book moves fast. Seriously, if you have an afternoon, you can probably take it down. All totaled it took me a good five or so hours to read. The writing is sharp, the pacing consistent, and the ending fits the story and is most satisfying. This is a love letter to fans of horror and heavy metal. This is as close to horror perfection as I have come across in recent memory. I give this book five very enthusiastic book marks out of five! Happy Reading!

‘We Sold Our Souls’ is one HELL of a ride. Grady Hendrix, King of horror at Quirk Books, has written a heavy metal masterpiece with a female lead guitarist, Kris Pulaski, as its star. Less classic horror this time (his previous books are ‘Horrorstör’, and ‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism’), Hendrix has laden ‘Souls’ with conspiracy theory and real life horrors. Kris Pulaski was in a heavy metal band called Dürt Würk two decades ago and they were on the brink of success when the lead singer Terry Hunt ripped the band apart and left to start his solo career. And it seems Terry’s rise to success was at the cost of selling the band’s souls. That’s right, he sold their souls for rock’n’roll…or in this case, heavy metal. Kris’ pitiful present day existence is working at the reception of a Best Western, and if you can stomach the ‘Welcome To Hell’ chapter (good horror always comes at the cost of reading things that make your stomach turn), then you can follow Kris on her journey as she gets whisked from Pennsylvania to a Satanic rehab center, and then across the country again to grimy Las Vegas. Years of grueling, crazy, exciting, challenging (to say the least), and often nasty experiences on the road with the band, were nothing compared to this trip, and it seems like all Kris’ heavy metal years were preparation and toughened her up. The journey to Las Vegas is overwhelming, but Kris has a mission she can’t ignore. There’s also a whole host of colorful characters along the way, but I do have to wonder if Hendrix has a thing against UPS (you will see what I mean when you read the book). The greatest thing about this book is that Hendrix has chosen to write ‘Souls’ with a female protagonist. Not just that: a kickass, middle-aged (even though I hate that word, because that’s what I am now, I suppose), female as its lead. And she plays the guitar like a certain other Hendrix. She doesn’t take any bull from anyone and doesn’t stop fighting back once she starts on her new road trip. While it seems as though she has given up with her hotel job, the revelation that she must stop her old bandmate Terry Hunt, lights a fire in Kris, and the book has that vibe of ‘don’t give up, don’t let the system win, don’t let the bullies push you’. That’s highly clear in the messages of conspiracy theory, our paranoia-laden country, and how culture is selling itself (its soul) particularly out to cell phones and shallow marketing. Reading the book will give you a greater sense of the way the conspiracy theory works in ‘Souls’ - I’m kind of at a loss as how to explain the genius behind how it’s woven in - but Hendrix has cleverly used snippets of radio and newspaper to show how ‘news’ travels and information spreads. This has always been the way conspiracy theories spread and this underbelly of the book is fascinating. If you don’t know all the music in the book, this may be a little daunting, as there are a lot of heavy metal and music references, but I think if you have even the remote interest in or knowledge of decades old music such as Black Sabbath and Slayer, and remember the days when everyone thought that heavy metal listeners were devil worshipers, you will appreciate what Hendrix is doing here (and no you don’t have to actually like the music). Trigger warnings for sexual assault and creepy crawlies; this is definitely rated R. Hendrix is an undeniable force in pop culture literature and has written an unforgettable book, one that’s not for everyone, but will be a cult classic, but not like any of the schlock he writes about in his awesome ‘Paperbacks from Hell’. No one writes like this guy; ‘We Sold Our Souls’ is funny, gross, complex, and a wonderful blend of horror, pop culture, conspiracy theory, and is infused with a heavy dose of music history. Only Grady Hendrix could have done that.

Ha llegado en excelente estado el paquete y el perfume por lo que veo es original. Llegó en la fecha estimada (lo pedí el viernes y llegó lunes). Es la portada que se muestra lo cual amé porque tenía un año buscándola.

Chegou rápido. O livro apresenta muita qualidade. Tem sprayed edges em preto.

I really liked the main story here,and I loved the characters,especially relatable and down trodden, Kris was outstanding. I really think people will love her,even if Grady did what he always seems to do with his main character's and give them more lives than a cat. I didn't think I'd like the idea of lyrics included in a book, especially lyrics to songs that had never been made,but it was a really cool move and added something original and a new way to see the characters point of view. At one point,when the character of Melanie got introduced, the book seemed a bit odd and I felt like she was going to be introduced more, then her character needed to be fleshed out a bit more or at least have her story fleshed out,but she seemed quite throwaway. The third act gives the character of Kris a ridiculous amount of luck, luck, luck.. I do feel that Gradys books loose something because you know that his main character's are always safe and really that means there's no danger cos you know they're always safe,even if they get injured. I loved the ending and how Kris ended up, but off you'd have asked me halfway through "where will Kris end up?" I'd have told you the exact place she did. Which made that element predictable,even though I really liked it. There's been better Grady books and worse,but I really loved the character of Kris and her love of music send I think the music and the character make this one really

I absolutely love this book... Grady Hendrix never disappoints.

So eventually succumbed. There were times it seemed Grady Hendrix was everywhere, and nothing can live up to that, surely? And yet, I loved it. Very much in the vein of the 1980s horror revival of Stranger Things. Like Stephen King dredging through his drawers to discover a forgotten manuscript. Definitely worth the read.