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petealdin's review against another edition
5.0
A very good read. The prose is charming (pun intended) and the array of anti-hero characters winsome. The plot is unformulaic and unpredictable, which is part of the charm, I believe.
All in all, a great read and I look forward to more work from Jason Franks.
For those interested, there is a short interview with him at my blog here: http://petealdin.com/jason-franks-5-questions-1-statement/
All in all, a great read and I look forward to more work from Jason Franks.
For those interested, there is a short interview with him at my blog here: http://petealdin.com/jason-franks-5-questions-1-statement/
raven_morgan's review against another edition
Aurealis Awards entry; no review posted until after the awards.
daveversace's review
5.0
Bloody Waters is a supernatural rock and roll fantasy tracking the career of virtuoso guitar goddess Clarice Marnier. It's an astonishingly confident novel with a fast beat, dry sense of humour and a terrific awareness of where it sits on the line is between occult horror and absurdist satire. The chapters are short and sharp, the characters are brassy and glorious and the ending is - well, let's just say that some songs are all the stronger for ending on an unexpected note.
Franks collides his majestic rock star Clarice with slimy record company executives, dodgy lawyers and jealous rivals with demons, succubi and mobsters and somehow never gets carried away with all the toys. The plot moves like a shark, ploughing through one bad situation after another, with Clarice and her lead singer Johnny (probably the most laid-back warlock in the history of black magic) hitting music industry slimebags and hellish sorcerors with equal confidence.
At the core of the demon-fighting shenanigans, Franks writes about the ins and outs of the modern music industry with an authenticity and assurance that would put a lot of rock journalists to shame. He writes about the experience of creating art and performing for audiences with such clarity that my fingers itched to pick up a guitar and practice chords the whole time. It's probably just as well for the world at large that I couldn't put the book down long enough to give it a go.
Five stars and throw up the horns because Bloody Waters is metal as hell.
Franks collides his majestic rock star Clarice with slimy record company executives, dodgy lawyers and jealous rivals with demons, succubi and mobsters and somehow never gets carried away with all the toys. The plot moves like a shark, ploughing through one bad situation after another, with Clarice and her lead singer Johnny (probably the most laid-back warlock in the history of black magic) hitting music industry slimebags and hellish sorcerors with equal confidence.
At the core of the demon-fighting shenanigans, Franks writes about the ins and outs of the modern music industry with an authenticity and assurance that would put a lot of rock journalists to shame. He writes about the experience of creating art and performing for audiences with such clarity that my fingers itched to pick up a guitar and practice chords the whole time. It's probably just as well for the world at large that I couldn't put the book down long enough to give it a go.
Five stars and throw up the horns because Bloody Waters is metal as hell.
alanbaxter's review
5.0
Bloody Waters is the debut novel from Jason Franks, maybe better known for his comics work. This first novel was nominated for an Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novel last year and I can see why. Here’s the blurb:
When guitar virtuoso Clarice Marnier finds herself blacklisted she makes a deal with the devil for a second chance. Soon Clarice and her band, Bloody Waters, are on their way to stardom… but cracking the Top 10 is one thing; gunfights with the Vatican Mafia and magical duels quite another. Clarice is going to have to confront the Devil himself – the only question is whether she’ll be alive or dead when it happens.
I had no expectations going into this book, other than knowing it had an award nomination. I was really surprised. It’s a unique read. The writing style is tight and powerful, the book clips along at a solid pace. We start with young Clarice putting aside Barbie dolls for a guitar and we follow her progress through high school and into her first band and beyond, where nothing else matters but the music. Absolutely nothing. The chapters are short and the description spare but complete.
Clarice herself is an interesting main character. She’s very well-realised by Franks as a balls out, takes no shit hero of rock’n’roll. If I have any complaints about this book it would be that sometimes Clarice is a bit too cold and calculating. I would have liked to see a few more moments of humanity in her, but it’s no surprise they weren’t there. She is a force of heavy metal nature and no one gets away with messing with her. Except, perhaps, the Devil himself…
This book definitely had extra appeal to me as I’m a guitarist and a total metal head myself. I’ve played in bands, I’ve worked in music journalism and been on tours (nothing major, I should add – I’m talking pubs and university gigs, not stadiums). But I’ve also been backstage at major metal events thanks to friends in the industry and journalistic bonuses. I say all this to clarify my credentials when I say how authentic the music business side of this novel is. From the gigs to the dressing rooms to the record industry execs to the fans and inter-band rivalry, Franks maintains an authenticity that I couldn’t see through. That’s really important in a book like this. And it’s icing on the cake for anyone who’s a fan of rock and metal as well as a good horror yarn.
The plot is clever and convoluted, but it’s always clear and it leads to a conclusion that I certainly didn’t see coming, which is always a bonus and a good achievement on the part of the author. The supernatural elements don’t come into the story for a long time, but when they do it’s a slow build that leads to massive things. And I have to say, Clarice’s boyfriend and Bloody Waters frontman, Johnny Chernow, is perhaps my favourite character of the whole thing. He’s the mellowest warlock you could imagine.
This is a great book, superbly written and one of those things you can call truly different. I hope we see more from Franks if this is where he’s starting out with novels.
.
When guitar virtuoso Clarice Marnier finds herself blacklisted she makes a deal with the devil for a second chance. Soon Clarice and her band, Bloody Waters, are on their way to stardom… but cracking the Top 10 is one thing; gunfights with the Vatican Mafia and magical duels quite another. Clarice is going to have to confront the Devil himself – the only question is whether she’ll be alive or dead when it happens.
I had no expectations going into this book, other than knowing it had an award nomination. I was really surprised. It’s a unique read. The writing style is tight and powerful, the book clips along at a solid pace. We start with young Clarice putting aside Barbie dolls for a guitar and we follow her progress through high school and into her first band and beyond, where nothing else matters but the music. Absolutely nothing. The chapters are short and the description spare but complete.
Clarice herself is an interesting main character. She’s very well-realised by Franks as a balls out, takes no shit hero of rock’n’roll. If I have any complaints about this book it would be that sometimes Clarice is a bit too cold and calculating. I would have liked to see a few more moments of humanity in her, but it’s no surprise they weren’t there. She is a force of heavy metal nature and no one gets away with messing with her. Except, perhaps, the Devil himself…
This book definitely had extra appeal to me as I’m a guitarist and a total metal head myself. I’ve played in bands, I’ve worked in music journalism and been on tours (nothing major, I should add – I’m talking pubs and university gigs, not stadiums). But I’ve also been backstage at major metal events thanks to friends in the industry and journalistic bonuses. I say all this to clarify my credentials when I say how authentic the music business side of this novel is. From the gigs to the dressing rooms to the record industry execs to the fans and inter-band rivalry, Franks maintains an authenticity that I couldn’t see through. That’s really important in a book like this. And it’s icing on the cake for anyone who’s a fan of rock and metal as well as a good horror yarn.
The plot is clever and convoluted, but it’s always clear and it leads to a conclusion that I certainly didn’t see coming, which is always a bonus and a good achievement on the part of the author. The supernatural elements don’t come into the story for a long time, but when they do it’s a slow build that leads to massive things. And I have to say, Clarice’s boyfriend and Bloody Waters frontman, Johnny Chernow, is perhaps my favourite character of the whole thing. He’s the mellowest warlock you could imagine.
This is a great book, superbly written and one of those things you can call truly different. I hope we see more from Franks if this is where he’s starting out with novels.
.
ajspedding's review
5.0
Franks takes the reader on a fast-paced ride filled with black humour, bloody battles, and a look at ideology from an altogether different standpoint. His characters are well-fleshed out, engaging, and were perfectly suited to the parts they played. I flew through this book, so engaged was I with the story and the characters. I sat up ‘til 3am to finish it, and if that isn’t the sign of a good book, I don’t know what is.
See full review here: http://amandajspedding.com/2015/02/28/review-bloody-waters-by-jason-franks/
See full review here: http://amandajspedding.com/2015/02/28/review-bloody-waters-by-jason-franks/
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