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geoffwood's review
4.0
Such book. Foremost, not sure if it's meant to be in dialogue with The Great Outdoor Fight, because conceptually same idea. Grand rollicking mess of a novel, starting out all meth noir and ending up with a character with the shinning hinting heavy-handedly at a sequel. Doesn't quite manage to successfully spin the two dozen plates it tries to, but it's at worst like a cheesy B-movie so no real complaints.
zmull's review against another edition
3.0
There's something mesmerizing the amount of sheer carnage, but there's not enough else to recommend it. Tremendously violent, but otherwise empty.
erincataldi's review against another edition
4.0
Raw, gritty, and primal, this novel of madness, violence, money, and drugs was brought beautifully to life via audiobook. Seriously, the narrator was spot on and his inflections, accents, and gravely voice added to the story. Donnybrook follows a cast of characters in the south as they make their way to southern Indiana to fight in a massive bare-knuckle fighting match to fight, sell drugs, or seek revenge. No character is without his or her flaws and violence is streaked throughout the pages. If you're going to read this, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook to get the full experience. Excellent!
rocketiza's review against another edition
5.0
You don't read Frank Bill, you get punched in the face every page. I was physically sweating from what this book put me through.
drodg's review against another edition
4.0
Gory, brutal, filthy, and fun are some of the words that can describe Frank Bill's Donnybrook.
It's a fun fable about a host of horrible characters making their way to a no holes barred fighting contest in the wilds of America.
It's a great little tale, and the characters are very engaging and imaginative. Frank Bill's writing flows like a you're watching movie, and you never get bored. Check it out!
It's a fun fable about a host of horrible characters making their way to a no holes barred fighting contest in the wilds of America.
It's a great little tale, and the characters are very engaging and imaginative. Frank Bill's writing flows like a you're watching movie, and you never get bored. Check it out!
jguinn2474's review against another edition
1.0
Easily one of the worst pieces of crap ever published.
itsmarkyall's review against another edition
5.0
This book reads like razor blades and motor oil. You’re not going to put it down without being sliced up and greasy. Might be my favorite read of 2017. Highly recommended.
trudilibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Holy shit snacks, people. This book is intense!!! I need a moment to compose myself. But there will be a review.
I was already familiar with Frank Bill's writing after surviving a close encounter with his debut -- the short story collection Crimes In Southern Indiana. Upon finishing those stories, my only thought was: "Jesus Christ, this man is a lunatic" -- and then immediately, "I want more!" For sure the stories are raw and unpolished, and perhaps a little too overeager to tell rather than show, but there is also an urgency, a ferocity to the writing that refuses to be ignored. It's so in your face that at times it feels like an assault. I loved it!
So you can bet when I heard this guy was about to publish his first novel I became very afraid, and very, very obsessed with getting my hands on it to read it.
Usually my eyes tend to glaze over and ignore most book blurbs because they always seem so generic and at their worst, sycophantic. But at their best, book blurbs can capture in a few short phrases the very tail of the beast itself and show you its face. As much as I loathe the majority, there are some that do their job so well, they deserve to be recognized along with the book they're blurbing. I only say this now to emphasize that Bill has attracted the attention of authors I love and respect and if you're not going to listen to me when I say this guy's the real deal, then maybe you'll listen to them:
Then there's meth-making brother and sister Angus (nickname Chainsaw) and Liz who put the F.U.N. in family dysfunction. They've just lost their last batch of dope and are determined to recoup their losses, no matter who gets in their way, even if it means each other. Like any great rural crime story, you've got the steely, determined deputy Sheriff following a trail of dead bodies into a trap he has no idea lays in wait for him. Last but not least, there's Chinese "collection agent" Fu, who's about as badass a dude as you're ever going to meet. He is awesome.
This mad, manic mélange of murderers, misfits and miscreants will eventually descend upon the Donnybrook -- a three day stint of brawling, booze and drugs run by a man named McGill, who makes the Governor from the Walking Dead comics look like Mr. Rogers. But it's not about the final destination folks, but the journey to get there, and (to quote one of my favorite movie taglines ever): who will survive and what will be left of them. Reading this book I couldn't help but be reminded of the lucid insanity of some of Tarantino's best work -- the ensemble characters, the multiple plot threads, and how it all comes crashing together in the end with defined, divine purpose. Hells yeah, people. This is the good shit. Heisenberg grade blue.
Frank Bill is a writer you want to watch. You can find out more about him at his blog House of Grit or follow him on Twitter @HouseofGrit. And as my mama always told me -- never trust a man with two first names.
This review also appears at Busty Book Bimbo and Shelf-Inflicted.
I was already familiar with Frank Bill's writing after surviving a close encounter with his debut -- the short story collection Crimes In Southern Indiana. Upon finishing those stories, my only thought was: "Jesus Christ, this man is a lunatic" -- and then immediately, "I want more!" For sure the stories are raw and unpolished, and perhaps a little too overeager to tell rather than show, but there is also an urgency, a ferocity to the writing that refuses to be ignored. It's so in your face that at times it feels like an assault. I loved it!
So you can bet when I heard this guy was about to publish his first novel I became very afraid, and very, very obsessed with getting my hands on it to read it.
Usually my eyes tend to glaze over and ignore most book blurbs because they always seem so generic and at their worst, sycophantic. But at their best, book blurbs can capture in a few short phrases the very tail of the beast itself and show you its face. As much as I loathe the majority, there are some that do their job so well, they deserve to be recognized along with the book they're blurbing. I only say this now to emphasize that Bill has attracted the attention of authors I love and respect and if you're not going to listen to me when I say this guy's the real deal, then maybe you'll listen to them:
Donnybrook is vivid in its violence, grim in its grimness. It reams the English language with a broken beer bottle and lets the blood drops tell the story. -- Daniel Woodrell, (Winter's Bone)I also like this one by Bonnie Jo Campbell: "Don't poke this book with a stick or you'll make it angry." And trust me -- you won't like this book when it's angry. Goodreads friend Jacob writes in his review:
With action like a belt across the face and vivid prose like a stroke up the neck, Frank Bill's astonishing novel...renders you punch-drunk. Here's the writer to watch: mad, bad, and dangerous to know. Megan Abbott, (Dare Me)
something this good should be illegal, because the act of hunting down a banned copy and hiding from the censors and morality police to read it is the only goddamn way it could get any better. Donnybrook is a relentless, no-holds-barred, total fucking mind-fuck of endless violence...Yeah, like that. But now you're looking at me tapping your foot impatiently saying: "Yeah, but what the hell is this book about?" I could give you the plot summary lowdown -- about bare-knuckle fighting in the backwoods of Southern Indiana, about desperate family man Jarhead Johnny Earl who's going to steal a thousand dollars to cover the entry fee into the infamous annual Donnybrook tournament.
Then there's meth-making brother and sister Angus (nickname Chainsaw) and Liz who put the F.U.N. in family dysfunction. They've just lost their last batch of dope and are determined to recoup their losses, no matter who gets in their way, even if it means each other. Like any great rural crime story, you've got the steely, determined deputy Sheriff following a trail of dead bodies into a trap he has no idea lays in wait for him. Last but not least, there's Chinese "collection agent" Fu, who's about as badass a dude as you're ever going to meet. He is awesome.
This mad, manic mélange of murderers, misfits and miscreants will eventually descend upon the Donnybrook -- a three day stint of brawling, booze and drugs run by a man named McGill, who makes the Governor from the Walking Dead comics look like Mr. Rogers. But it's not about the final destination folks, but the journey to get there, and (to quote one of my favorite movie taglines ever): who will survive and what will be left of them. Reading this book I couldn't help but be reminded of the lucid insanity of some of Tarantino's best work -- the ensemble characters, the multiple plot threads, and how it all comes crashing together in the end with defined, divine purpose. Hells yeah, people. This is the good shit. Heisenberg grade blue.
Frank Bill is a writer you want to watch. You can find out more about him at his blog House of Grit or follow him on Twitter @HouseofGrit. And as my mama always told me -- never trust a man with two first names.
This review also appears at Busty Book Bimbo and Shelf-Inflicted.
bundy23's review against another edition
3.0
We open with a nasty armed robbery and from there it just gets more and more brutal. And when I say brutal, I'm probably under-exaggerating because that's all this book is, pure absolute violent brutality. 100mph from open to close, it never stops, never even slows down to take a breath, we just jump from one scene of extreme violence to the next and I'll be honest, it gets fucking tiring after a while. It also hurts the novel that every single person in here is a complete piece of shit so there's really nothing this reader had invested in the outcome.
Frank Bill can write though and I'm totally going to check out some of his other stuff.
Frank Bill can write though and I'm totally going to check out some of his other stuff.