Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Grendel

Author: Ken Brosky

ISBN: 9781427620545

Ken Brosky’s novel, Grendel casts the reader into the horrifying experience of a successful and wealthy business executive, Tyler Leto, who experiences hell after a one minute stoppage of his heart following a severe heart attack.

Our protagonist is depicted as a forty-something CEO of his father’s company, Makavel Incorporated, a company that has posted record losses for the past two fiscal years. Tyler is a controlling and manipulative individual who is at war with the company’s shareholders and is about to be voted out by members of his board of directors whom he detests. He is also a philanderer who is addicted to drugs and thinks nothing of committing adultery with his best- friend’s wife.

As he is brought back to life in the emergency room of the hospital, Tyler screams and has to be held down. He is informed that he will need an emergency bypass. While he is unconscious and being operated on, Tyler witnesses horrible growling dog creatures standing over him. He also sees a figure with a badly burnt and scarred face resembling a man wearing a tattered robe or some kind of a cloak.  

The creatures attack Tyler, tearing his skin with their long teeth ad ripping out pieces of his flesh. Several times Tyler experiences his consciousness shift between the dark world and the hospital bed. The manlike figure assures him that he will soon wake up but tells him that he will be back soon. Once again he wakes up screaming remembering his horrible ordeal and is afraid to go back to sleep for fear he will encounter the same nightmare.

When he does fall asleep, Tyler is informed by the figure, who turns out to be a wicked angel with the name of Aerial, that he is not dreaming and he is in hell. Moreover, he is informed that after he died, his soul left his body, and God didn’t want him in heaven. Aerial also castigates Tyler for not having a little faith and tells him that something happened to his body on earth, giving him a second chance. Although, Aerial confesses that he does not know how it happened, he does tell Tyler that before it did, he was able to grab a piece of Tyler’s soul and he is now keeping it in hell. Tyler also learns that the piece is forever connected to him and every night when he falls asleep, his consciousness shifts to this small piece of his soul that was left behind and he materializes in Hell.  Upon learning all of this, Tyler tries to make a deal with Aerial, and even knowing it is contrary to his usual pattern of cocky and arrogant behavior, he begs to do anything that would enable him to escape this horrendous place.

As our story unfolds, Tyler continues to have these recurring nightmares and he discovers that Aerial wants something from him, but he doesn’t know what. And as he states: “The man didn’t just want something-he needed something.” Perhaps, he could strike some kind of a deal with him the same way he had climbed his way to CEO of Makavel Incorporated. After all, he is very good at manipulation and if he succeeds in negotiating for his soul, he will be relieved from these horrible nightmares.

Brosky’s writing is impressionistic and sharp edged managing to ingeniously throw in, as he mentions in his introduction, influences from Stephen King, Spawn, “The Prophecy” movies and the Beowulf myth, the latter being the main source of inspiration for the novel. For those of us who are unaware, Beowulf is the epic poem written around the seventh or eighth century that recounts the story of a heroic warrior who slays the monster Grendel, which had been terrorizing the lands of Denmark. Tyler, as a child, had listened to many stories narrated to him by his father that involved monsters and heroes and he is convinced that one of these tales contained the story that was playing through in his nightmare.

Grendel is undoubtedly an impressive piece of literature resounding with a unique and fresh voice, filled with riveting vivid images that will keep you wide awake at night. Brosky’s years of writing and illustrating comic books during his teens come shouting through in his ability to craft horrific bloody scenes rich in detail with wild characters. Moreover, Brosky permits his story to unfold naturally, with an organic pacing finishing with a powerful conclusion. All of which makes for a potent work and a most notable debut from an author who certainly displays a fertile imagination.  And although this novel may not be everyone’s cup of tea, Brosky nonetheless knows how to effectively ramp up the tension, effectively delivering violence and graphic imagery with an intriguing twisting plot. One comment I do have is that I would have liked to have known more about Tyler’s behavior and character on his rise to becoming CEO of Makavel Incorporated. Perhaps Brosky should have omitted several graphic scenes and replaced them with more descriptions of Tyler’s psyche.   

To read Norm's Interview With Ken Brosky CLICK HERE

The above review was contributed by: The Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com, Norm Goldman, B.A. LL.L, Retired Title Attorney: Norm is also a travel writer and together with his artist wife, Lily, the couple meld Norm's words with Lily's art. To check out their travel site click on Sketchandtravel.com   Click here to view Norm’s Reviews & Interviews.

Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Grendel